Gundam Seed Destiny Siblings
by D.M.Ash
Summary: Mayu Asuka survived the Battle of Orb with the help of a few from an organization called Celestial. Now she has joined them as a mobile suit pilot. How much would the world change with her and the organization around? Going through a complete rewrite
1. Revival and Introduction

Gundam Seed Destiny – Siblings

Chapter 1 – Revival and Introduction

_C.E. 71, June 15 – Onogoro Island, The day the Earth Alliance attacked Orb_

There were explosions everywhere as Orb forces fought off the Earth Alliance as civilians rushed to the transports taking them away from the nation to a safer place. However there was a pair of twins trying to make their way to a secret location hidden deep underground on Onogoro Island, Ash and Morina Sakuros.

"Aaah, not again!" Morina shouted as a fallen Strike Dagger crashed near them. A young woman with long dark forest green hair and grey eyes wearing a uniform, she nearly panicked at the sight of the fallen mobile suit.

"Ignore them! We have to head to the underground lab, Professor Kino and the others are waiting for us!" Ash shouted as they kept running. A man that had short black hair and brown eyes, kept his cool as he urged his sister to keep on running.

Meanwhile, far up ahead the Asuka family was running to one of the transports that were heading to the Plants. The girl, Mayu Asuka, was running when her cell phone slipped out of her hand and fell down the slope. A 13 year old coordinator with long brown hair and violet eyes, she panicked as she watched her phone fall down the slope and shouted, "Ah, my cell phone!"

Mayu was about to go get it when her mother grabbed her and said, "No Mayu, we don't have time!"

"But Mom!" Mayu shouted.

"I'll get it!" Her brother Shinn, a 15 year old coordinator with raven black hair and red eyes, shouted as he jumped off the slope.

"No, wait Shinn!" Their father shouted.

Mayu smiled to herself as she thought, 'Big brother is always doing those things.'

Suddenly there was a flash of red light and before Mayu knew it there was a big explosion. Down below Shinn saw what happened and scrambled up to see if his family was alright.

The next thing Mayu knew she was on the ground and in immense pain but couldn't move. Through her blurred vision she saw to her horror that she was in a pool of her own blood and the lower part of her left arm was completely severed lying not far from her. For some reason she knew that she was dying as her vision started to fade in and out. The last thing she saw was her brother climbing back onto the road and seeing the shocked look on his face. She thought, 'Big brother…' before blacking out.

After Shinn was dragged away by an Orb officer Ash and Morina ran up to the scene and Morina covered her mouth in shock. Ash on the other hand went over and inspected the bodies. As another explosion rocked the island Morina shouted, "What the heck are you doing Brother?"

"Seeing if they're really dead." Ash said as he finished checking two of the bodies. When he reached the third, Mayu, and checked her he shouted, "What the…?! Hey Morina, get over here!"

"What is it?!" Morina shouted as she rushed over. Ash replied, "This girl's still alive! We need to help her!"

"Alright, I'll patch her up and we can take her to Dr. Muris." As Morina started to bandage the girl she said, "Wow, considering the amount of blood she lost it's a miracle she's still alive."

Ash was on the lookout to see if things got worse but the explosions stopped and he saw the Alliance's mobile suits retreat. He sighed and said, "Whew, looks like the battle's stopped for now."

"Yeah and I just finished too." Morina said as she finished tightening the last bandage, "We'd better hurry; I wouldn't be surprised if she were to die on the way there." She picked up Mayu and Ash took her severed arm. Morina asked, "What are you doing?"

"That girl needs her arm amputated. Having her real arm will help in the making of the artificial arm." Ash explained, "C'mon, let's get going. The entrance isn't far from here."

The two of them started to move as Ash took out his cell phone and dialed a number. He waited until a female voice came on saying, "Ash? Morina? Where are you?"

"We're on our way Professor Kino, but get the medical team and Dr. Muris. We've got an injured girl in critical condition and I don't know how long she's got."

"I understand. I'll have a team of medics on standby at the entrance." Professor Kino said.

"Thanks, Professor." Ash said as he hung up.

The two of them managed to find the entrance to the underground facility. Inside they find the team of medics waiting for them. They took Mayu and her arm from the two, putting her on a stretcher and wheeling her away. The medical team took the elevator leaving Ash and Morina to take the stairs. Both of them groaned since it was quite a long way down.

When they managed to reach the bottom they came out to find Professor Natalie Kino waiting for them. To most people they wouldn't believe that she was an adult since she had the looks of a girl in her mid-teens. With shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes, one couldn't argue that she was beautiful. Add in her genius in the scientific areas and people would say that she was the perfect person among Naturals. She was quite kind too though if someone were to piss her off, they would have trouble recovering from her wrath that she would put them through, as her guinea pig.

"Professor Kino!" Morina shouted as she ran and hugged Natalie.

"Morina, Ash, thank goodness the two of you made it." Natalie said. The two parted and she said, "Come with me."

The two siblings followed and immediately Morina asked, "Will the girl make it?"

"I don't know. Dr. Muris is in the operating room right now so we can't ask. We'll just have to see what happens." Natalie replied in a low voice.

"I see…" Morina said, sounding crestfallen.

The three made there way to an underground hanger where a ship was located. It looked just like the Archangel since it was built in secret in this underground facility by order of the organization the three were a part of, Celestial International. Also with Natalie being one of the heads of the organization, it was easy for her to be put in position for this project.

One of the mechanics on-hand approached them and said, "Professor Kino!"

"What's the situation?" Natalie asked.

"The ship is fully operational. The president is working on a deal with Actaeon Industries about mobile suits so production on the Serene's mobile suits are on hold for the time being. Also we managed to find enough people for a suitable crew for the Serene. Although…"

"Yes?"

"Well, we haven't found a suitable captain for the ship according to the president." The mechanic simply said.

This didn't surprise her since the organization didn't have a trained captain in their ranks. She said, "Well, I guess that can't be helped." The mechanic however handed her a file saying, "Actually there is someone that the president thinks is suitable but due to a few reasons they're not here. The file contains the data on the candidate. The president hopes that you can take this into consideration." The technician bowed and left.

Morina looked at the file and asked, "So the Serene still doesn't have a captain huh, even though the ship's been in development for over six months."

"That's gonna change if the person the president has her eye on is good enough." Natalie said as she marched off to her office.

Morina followed calling out to her brother, "Ash, c'mon."

Ash acknowledged her as he finished watching the Serene and followed the two to Natalie's office.

Inside the office the three of them sat down as Natalie opened the file and began reading the contents. From the look she had on her face the two siblings knew that she was reading something very interesting. Natalie passed the file onto Ash and Morina saying, "Here, I want to know what the two of you think of this."

Ash and Morina took a look at the file and were quite surprised at the information. The file contained information on the former XO of the Archangel and soon to be captain of the Earth Alliance's new Archangel-class warship Dominion, Natarle Badgiruel. Ash asked in a suspicious tone, "Is this who the president recommends?"

Natalie nodded and replied, "Believe me; I thought it was a bit odd myself but seeing that she served on the Archangel, I could see why. Her experience with the Archangel should prove useful, since she served as its XO."

Morina said, "But how are we going to get her to captain the Serene? I mean she still with the Atlantic Federation, not to mention she's going to become captain of the Dominion. I know I can trust the organization's Intel but that doesn't explain what we're going to do."

Natalie gave a mischievous smile and said, "Don't worry about it. I already came up with a plan for that." She turned her look onto Ash.

Morina looked at her brother also with a smile on her face and Ash knew that look in Natalie's eyes, "Oh shit, I don't like the look of this…"

* * *

_June 18, C.E. 71 – Celestial's underground facility, medical ward_

Mayu groaned in her bed as she woke up. For a moment she thought she was dead until she fully opened her eyes. To her surprise she found herself staring at the ceiling, barely able to move. She tried to remember the last thing that happened before she blacked out but suddenly pain ran throughout her body. A female voice said, "You shouldn't strain yourself miss."

Mayu tried to move her head and a woman's face appeared over her. She said, "Here, let me help you up. The woman helped Mayu sit up, although the pain was making her wince a lot as she sat up. When Mayu was upright she was able to take a good look at the woman who helped her. She looked like she was in her early twenties with long violet hair and matching violet eyes. To her she looked like an angel in a doctor's coat. She looked around and saw that she was in a single room that looked like a private hospital room without windows.

The woman asked as she sat on a stool beside Mayu's bed, "Are you able talk miss."

Mayu tried and stuttered, "Y-yes."

The woman smiled and said, "Ah that's good. Oh, my name is Doctor Liana Muris. May I ask your name miss?"

"I-it's Mayu Asuka." Mayu replied.

The door opened and Morina entered the room. She saw that Mayu was awake and was really happy to see that. She said, "Oh good she's awake. I was worried for a while there. Thank goodness she pulled through."

"Yes, she's fine now." Liana told her.

"Who are you miss?" Mayu asked, her voice coming back to her.

Morina smiled and said, "I'm Morina Sakuros, me and my brother were the ones who managed to find you. I mean, it was a miracle that you were still alive despite the injuries you had."

"W-what about my parents and brother?" Mayu asked, fearing the worst.

Morina saw the fear in her eyes and replied in a low voice, "I'm sorry, but your parents were already dead when we found you." Mayu bit her lip and tears started to fall, "On the other hand we only found the three of you, I think your brother's still alive since there wasn't another body lying around."

Liana winced at how blunt Morina seemed to sound but hearing that her brother was still possibly alive cheered her up a bit. She looked around and asked, "Where am I?"

"A secret facility hidden deep under Onogoro Island. This place is owned by the organization Celestial International." Morina told her.

"'Celestial International'? Isn't that the organization that specializes in humanitarian efforts all around the world?" Mayu asked.

Morina nodded and replied, "Yes, for over a hundred years we've been doing that but lately we had to turn to military matters for 'various reasons'."

Mayu didn't understand what Morina meant by what she said, instead she looked at herself and asked in an unsure voice, "What happened to me?"

"Dr. Muris." Morina said, passing the bat over to Liana, "You were seriously injured when Morina brought you in. You had serious injuries due to an explosion, major blood loss from your injuries, but most of all, the lower part of your left arm was completely severed from your body, Ms. Asuka, which contributed to the blood loss. Your arm was amputated yesterday, so there shouldn't be any problems, but let Dr. Muris know if something doesn't feel right."

Mayu was in shock at how much she suffered. From what Liana just told her, she should be dead. Morina saw the look Mayu had and said, "Yeah I know, shocking isn't it? But we're all glad that you survived at least." Mayu saw the genuine look on both their faces that she was alright which made her blush a bit. Liana changed the subject and asked Morina, "So where's your brother?"

Morina sighed and replied, "Professor Kino sent him off on a mission to 'recruit' the future captain of the Serene that the president recommended."

"From the way you said it there has to be a catch." Liana said.

"No kidding," Morina said with distaste, "Ash has to infiltrate the Earth Alliance forces again to reach her, not to mention the danger that comes with it. 'You have to get her at the right time, preferably if she's in risk of losing her life or if it seems that the ship is heading for it's destruction in battle.' Those orders sound ludicrous with the war starting to reach its peak, from the looks of it. I can't afford to lose him, he's the only family I have left…" Morina looked a bit exhausted after that rant that she sat down on a nearby chair.

Liana looked amused while Mayu had no clue what was going on. She asked in a timid voice, "Um, who are you talking about?"

Liana answered her, "Her twin brother, Ash Sakuros. He was sent on a mission shortly after Orb lost the battle with the Earth Alliance a few days ago."

Mayu was shocked at what she just heard, "Orb lost?"

Morina nodded and said, "Orb Forces were forced to flee to space due to the Earth Alliance's overwhelming forces. Not only that, all military related facilities around Orb were self-detonated in order to prevent them from falling into the EA's hands. Unfortunately the Orb government in it's current state had to accept the Alliance's terms to surrender as a result, which is why we're hiding here."

Mayu couldn't believe what she was hearing but she knew that, despite Orb having superior technology, couldn't withstand an assault from the Earth Alliance for long. It just happened in a shorter amount of time than she expected. Suddenly Morina got up and walked over to Mayu's bedside. She said to her, "The reason I came over to see you is to make you an offer. As you know, Celestial International is a humanitarian organization, giving people aid around the world for over fifty years. However due to the current war going on we have had some of our people working in the field attacked by various groups, mainly Blue Cosmos fanatics. Honestly I have no idea why they started to target us but due to the attacks, we have need of incorporating other things like military technology into the organization, for self-defense purposes of course."

"…What does that have to do with me?" Mayu asked.

"Well, due to your situation you and your parents are most likely listed among civilian casualties. But my main point is that due to your situation Celestial International would like to offer you a place in the organization as a mobile suit pilot." Morina told her.

Well, Mayu was just astounded at the offer. Being asked to join an organization as a mobile suit pilot wasn't something that happened everyday. But she considered herself just an ordinary girl and had trouble grasping the concept so she asked, "Um, what would happen if I were to reject your offer?"

"You would stay here until the war ended or if Orb happens to reconstruct itself as a nation before that. Then we would search for your brother to see if he's still alive and if he is, then we would send you off to live by his side. If he isn't alive then Celestial would help you get back to your normal life as a citizen." Morina explained.

This left Mayu thinking quite deeply. On one hand, Celestial would help her reunite with her brother Shinn, who she had a very strong feeling that he was still alive. On the other hand, if Shinn had somehow died she would be taken care of until she got back on her feet or if she accepted, would be trained to be a mobile suit pilot. All of this was starting to hurt her brain and she asked, "…Please, could you…let me think about it for awhile?"

Morina nodded and said, "Okay, you don't have to give me an answer right now but please, think about it." She turned and left the room leaving Liana and Mayu alone. Mayu looked tired and Liana asked, "Do you want to lie down?"

Mayu nodded and Liana helped her lie back down. Then she said, "Don't worry about it too much Ms. Asuka. No matter what decision you make, Celestial will help you get back on your feet, no matter what. It's the reason for this organization's existence after all, to help those in need." Then Liana gave her one last smile before she turned around and left the room, leaving Mayu alone.

There was a long silence as Mayu contemplated on what to do when a little girl walked into her room. Mayu was surprised that a young girl, looking no younger than ten years of age, was walking around a facility like this. The girl noticed Mayu lying on her bed and she curiously walked over to her side. Getting a closer look she had long pale brown hair that went past her waist and violet eyes that look so innocent to Mayu. She was in what it looked like pajamas and she was holding a stuffed doll that looked like a chibi version of her. Mayu asked, "Are you lost?"

The girl shook her head as she continued to look at Mayu. Then she asked, "What's your name?"

The girl didn't say anything; instead she moved her doll and pointed to a spot on her chest where there was a nametag. Mayu said, "So it's Elena huh? I'm Mayu Asuka, and it's nice to meet you." She gave Elena a warm, welcoming smile.

Before Elena could do anything Liana and a nurse came in. The nurse looked like she was in a bit of a panic but when she saw Elena she calmed down and said, "There you are Elena! You had everyone worried when you just disappeared like that."

Elena went closer to Mayu and Liana said, "Oh, I bet you overheard some of the nurses saying that someone was brought in and you wanted to visit, isn't that right?"

Elena nodded and walked over to the nurse's side. The nurse said in a soft voice, "Okay, let's go back to your room now."

Both of them left the room but not before Elena waved good-bye to Mayu. When the two of them were gone Mayu asked Liana, "Why's a young girl like Elena here Doctor?"

Liana looked a bit hesitant but answered, "Well, in short, she's an orphan that Ash and Morina picked up a while back."

Now Mayu was a bit confused, "An orphan? Shouldn't she be in an orphanage then?"

Liana grew more hesitant in giving her an answer but she said, "Well, actually she has some special circumstances about that. I can't go into details; you should ask Morina or Ash about it. What I can say is that Elena is very attached to the two of them, and she refused to go to an orphanage when Morina took her to one. Now she's being trained to be a mobile suit pilot."

"What?! But she's too young!" Mayu shouted. She cringed since her shouting made her feel some pain from her injuries.

Liana sighed and replied, "I know, and most of the people in Celestial think so too. The minimal age to start training in any field in the organization is 14 and she's only 11. Honestly I think Ash and Morina are being too irresponsible but they argue that Elena was more than willing to take up pilot training despite her age."

"Really…?" Mayu said. She thought to herself, 'She's so young, so why…?'

Liana got up and was about to leave when she said, "By the way, if you're wondering why she decided to do pilot training she gave us an answer. It was, 'to help protect those I care about and also those in need, like I was.'" Then she left the room to go after Elena.

With Mayu all by herself again she went back to wondering what she was going to do. She was sheltered here in Orb, and until the attack from the Earth Alliance, she was quite ignorant of what was happening outside Orb's borders. Now she had two choices in front of her. One: return to her old life while trying to find out what happened to her brother, or two: join Celestial International helping those affected by the war and hopefully they can find out where Shinn is while she's at it. Looking at the choices she finally made up her mind what she was going to do. When Morina or Liana came back she would tell them her answer.

* * *

_June 25, C.E. 71 – Celestial's underground facility, Natalie's office_

Morina and Natalie were discussing various things with each other, one of them being Mayu's decision to join Celestial as a member of the organization, as well as her request to be trained as a mobile suit pilot.

"So her training starts as soon as she's fully healed and done with that therapy session. Is that the plan?" Morina asked her.

"Yes, that's the plan. Now that we have seven pilots we can finally start to really train them." Natalie replied while looking over some documents, "Shoot, we could've started this half a year ago but the president was so adamant about getting seven pilots that things were being put off for so long."

"That's the president for you, she can be so stubborn at times it's a wonder things are moving along as they are." Morina said. She was looking over a list of the mobile suits that were being built for the Serene, "Let's see, from Actaeon Industries we have GAT-X1022 Blu Duel, GAT-X103AP Verde Buster, GAT-X207SR Nero Blitz, GAT-X303AA Rosso Aegis, and GAT-X105E Strike E. The AQM/E-X09S Noir Striker pack plans will be sent when data has been completed. The ones from Morgenroete are MBF-03 Claymore and the MBF-04 Barrett. The last three mobile suits will be kept classified until Ash Sakuros returns from his mission." The last statement left her confused, "What the…? Why does Ash have to be here concerning the three other mobile suits? Not to mention that there are three additional ones too."

"You know the president, she seems to value his opinion or she has something that she needs to say that requires his presence. Oh, and the president did say that a minimum of seven pilots was required." Natalie casually said as she kept going through more documents.

Morina continued reading until she came across a certain point, "Hey, it says here that all the machines are being outfitted with fission reactors and some things called Neutron Jammer Cancellers. If those are what I think they are how on earth did we get our hands on some of those?"

"Some of the tech people in the PLANTs R&D weapon departments are members of Celestial that moved there years ago. Since they can't help us directly they help us by sometimes secretly giving us technological data. Although I kind of wonder why they would give us sensitive data like the plans for the NJC, ZGMF-X09A Justice, X10A Freedom, X11A Regenerate, X12A Testament, and X13A Providence. Something tells me that the guys in the PLANTs are asking us to do something." Natalie wondered as she continued to look through various documents.

Eventually Natalie got fed up with all the papers and gave a sigh saying, "Ugh, why am I going though these things. I'm a scientist not a desk jockey for crying out loud!"

"Not to mention that you hate deskwork like the plague." Morina added while flipping the page, now looking at the profiles of the recruits she was going to train.

Natalie looked like she was at the end of her rope in exhaustion, "Uww, the president can sure be mean sometimes. There's a tiny devil behind that cute face."

"Make sure she doesn't hear you say that, or else she gonna dump everything else on you." Morina told her. She asked, "Hey did the report from my brother come in yet?"

Natalie came back to life as she shifted through the papers trying to find the one with Ash's report. She found the one she was looking for and handed it over to Morina as she tried to put all the papers she scattered back into order. Morina read it and was satisfied saying, "Whew, so he managed to infiltrated the Dominion as a mobile suit pilot. Knowing his skill he'll be just fine. Hmm, I'm allowed to start basic training with the recruits ASAP and it's not a problem if they complete it before he returns too."

"I guess that you'll be busy for a while huh?" Natalie said to her, "I will too now that the nanotech research finally came from Headquarters."

Morina lifted her head at the mention of the nanotech research, "So when do you think that the NIRUS project will be completed?"

The Nanotech Integrated Repair and Upgrade System project is the research and development of creating and adding nanomachines to various machines like mobile suits. As it's implied in the project's name, the nanomachines are supposed to repair and possibly upgrade machines to be stronger and more efficient that their previous state. The project was going well until the warning that the Earth Alliance was going to attack Orb came, where all the resources and projects had to be relocated to the underground facility from their HQ for safety purposes. Natalie is the head of the development team responsible for the project and she knew that everyone on her team was anxious to resume the project.

"Hmm, I guess in a year's time. There's been a lot of progress done so…" Natalie trailed off. She did this whenever she didn't want to finish what she said which annoyed Morina a lot. This time she didn't say anything since she was too busy reading the report.

After that Morina helped Natalie with the paperwork for the rest of the day which she was thankful for.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, medical ward_

Around the same time Mayu was going through exercises with Liana as part of her therapy. Not moving for over a week made Mayu a bit disoriented and she needed to go through this to get her prepared for the pilot training. When she found out that her left arm was really amputated from her elbow down she tried moving it and to her surprise she found she could move it quite naturally which Liana explained that it was one of Celestial's specialties from the joint efforts between the Tech and Medical Departments. She was in the middle of stretching when Elena came into the room. When she saw Mayu stretching Elena rushed over and gave her a big hug, surprising Mayu, "Hey Elena, you came to see me again?"

Elena nodded happily in response. Mayu found out from Liana that she was incapable of speaking after an incident seven months ago, when Ash and Morina picked her up. It wasn't due to injury but to trauma, according to Liana. Mayu didn't press the subject since she figured that if it was due to trauma, then something horrible must have happened.

While Mayu was playing with Elena a boy holding his arm came in saying, "I heard you were here Dr. Muris so-." He stopped midway when he saw Mayu and Elena playing together. He raised his eyebrow as Liana asked, "Is there something you needed Antino?"

Antino replied, "Oh yeah, I accidentally cut my arm while sparring with my brother and I need help with it."

"Okay, just wait here then while I go get a bandage." Liana got up and told Mayu, "Don't worry Mayu, we'll get back to the exercises after I'm done."

When Liana left the room the boy turned his attention to Mayu and Elena saying, "So, you're the last pilot to join us huh? I must say, you're quite cute."

Mayu didn't say anything in response but when Elena gave him a glare he hastily said, "Don't worry Elena, I'm just here to see who the new pilot is and to get my arm fixed."

Elena dropped the glare but was still giving the boy suspicious looks while Mayu asked, "Uh, so who are you?"

"Oops, I forgot. The name's Antino Menard and I'm one of the pilots for the Serene, along with my brother. It's nice to meet you." Antino introduced himself as he held out his hand.

"I'm Mayu Asuka, and it's nice to meet you too." Mayu said as she shook Antino's hand.

Antino gave Mayu a smug look and said, "I hope that you're ready for what's coming in the training. You don't wanna be picked on you know."

"What was that?!" Mayu said in an annoyed voice while Elena was glaring daggers at him. It stopped there when Liana came back in with a medical kit in her hands. She noticed the atmosphere and asked, "Did something happen?"

Antino shook his head and replied, "Nope, just talking to the girls while you were out."

"Okay…" Liana put the medical kit on a nearby table and said, "Come here and let me see what happened."

As Liana treated Antino Mayu whispered, "Man, what's his problem…"

Elena took out her pad and pencil and wrote something on it. She then showed it to Mayu which said, "Don' t worry, he's always like that."

"Really now, it sounded like he wanted to pick a fight with me." Mayu whispered.

Elena wrote, "It's just his way of worrying about you. There's someone else you should look out for."

"Who?" Mayu asked, looking confused.

Elena giggled and wrote, "Oh you'll see."

Liana finished patching him up and said, "Don't do anything for the rest of the day alright? Else it might leave a scar."

"Okay Doctor, thanks." Antino was about to leave when he said, "Don't forget what I said Mayu-yu." Then he left the room.

Mayu was fuming while Elena and Liana giggled a bit. Liana closed the kit and said, "C'mon Mayu, let's get back to what we were doing."

"Yes Doctor." Mayu said as she calmed down and resumed her exercises.

* * *

_June 27, C.E. 71 – Celestial's underground facility, simulation room_

Mayu and Morina were in the simulation room, where Morina was teaching Mayu how to pilot. The room had ten modules where each one had the controls of a mobile suit inside it. Here Mayu was sitting in one of them with Morina behind her. Since the modules were designed to exactly mimic a mobile suit cockpit Morina was a bit uncomfortable in the space behind Mayu's seat. She asked, "Are you alright Morina?"

"Yeah, just a bit uncomfortable, that's all." Morina told her, "Anyway, it's time to give you a crash course in mobile suit piloting. Except for you, all the other pilots already know how to operate a mobile suit."

Mayu was a bit nervous as her hands gripped the controls. Morina noticed this and said, "Don't worry if you mess up. Personally I messed up big time on my first time."

"What, how?" Mayu asked.

"I pressed on the acceleration a little too much that I ran into a missile bunker and blew myself up in the simulation." Morina told her.

"No way, seriously?!" Mayu said as laughed.

"Yeah so don't worry if you mess up. C'mon let's see how you move this thing." Morina told her.

Mayu focused on the screen where it showed a military base. The simulation showed that she was in an unarmed M1 Astray on the runway. She took a step and the module shook. Mayu looked around and said, "What the?!"

"Oh don't worry about that. This module is designed specifically to make it feel like you're in a real mobile suit. It's kind of why the modules are designed the way they are and spread out from each other." Morina explained to her.

"Oh, ok." Mayu said, still a bit shaken. She continued to move with the controls and as Morina continued to instruct her, she was amazed that she was adapting to the controls very quickly. When she put Mayu through her very first one-on-one simulation combat Morina was amazed at how she adapted to the situation very quickly and finishing the opponent, a GINN, with ease. This made Morina very excited while Mayu was panting a bit from the rush. Mayu thought to herself, 'Wow, I never knew mobile suit combat was like that! Now I know what the people in those Astrays felt like with their first time in the cockpit.'

Morina pressed a button on the wall and the door of the module opened behind her. She stepped out and asked, "Since you know how to pilot a mobile suit now do you want to continue or stop now?"

Mayu thought about it for a moment then replied, "Let's keep going."

Morina nodded and said, "Okay, just give me a moment to get to the control room first." The door closed and Mayu waited for a moment. Then Morina's voice came on and said, "Okay, can you hear me Mayu?"

"Loud and clear Morina." Mayu replied.

"Okay, we'll keep going with mobile suit combat for about an hour or two than call it quits. Is that good?"

"Yes ma'am."

Morina gave a chuckle and said, "Here we go!"

More enemy GINNs appeared on her monitor and Mayu shouted, "Let's do this!"

A few hours later Mayu came out of the module sweating and looking quite exhausted since the last exercise Morina simulated took a lot out of her after winning. Morina was waiting for her looking excited for some reason. She told Mayu, "Good job. You better take a shower and get some rest."

"Thanks Morina." Mayu said and she was leaving when Morina called out, "Wait, just one more thing."

"What is it?" Mayu asked.

"Congratulations, you just passed the first phase of basic training!" Morina shouted.

* * *

June 29, C.E. 71 – Celestial's underground facility, simulation room

Morina, Mayu, and Elena were waiting in the simulation room waiting for the other five pilots to show up. They were half an hour late and Morina was starting to get very angry. Mayu and Elena were a bit away from her since they could practically feel her anger coming off of her. Suddenly five people came in through the door. Mayu looked and saw it were three boys and two girls, one of which she could recognize as Antino. The five were chatting amongst themselves until they saw Morina's angry face. This shut them all up and made them line up together in a boy-girl-boy-girl-boy fashion in front of Morina. Mayu smirked at the sight and Elena nudged her and wrote, "Watch what happens."

The five teenagers looked really nervous as Morina paced up and down. She stopped in the middle and said in a calm and dangerous voice, "Where were you guys?"

No one said anything until one of the girls, the one to the left, with long black hair and brown eyes said, "Um, we were helping Professor Kino move stuff around in her lab."

Morina didn't buy that story so she said in her dangerous voice, "Oh really now. If you were helping Prof. Kino why didn't you rush over when you were done?"

They squirmed when she said that and Mayu thought to herself, 'Oh boy, they look like they're being 'squeezed' thoroughly.'

The boy on the very right, with long black hair in a ponytail and pale blue eyes spoke up saying, "Honestly ma'am, we thought that we were supposed to be here at 2:00 and since we were finished at 1:30 we just took a leisurely walk…" His voice trailed off seeing the daggers in Morina's eyes.

She gave all of them an icy glare as she said, "So you mistaken the time huh? I guess things like that happen. But since you had to feel that there was no need to rush over I'll give all of you your punishments later. But for now it's time to introduce yourselves to her." Morina pointed her thumb over to where Mayu and Elena were standing.

This prompted Mayu and Elena to come over to Morina's side as her mood changed back to her usual. She said to Mayu, "C'mon, introduce yourself."

Mayu was a bit nervous as she said, "Um, my n-name is Mayu Asuka, and it's a pleasure to meet you all."

From left to right the five people introduced themselves to Mayu. Standing to the very left of the line, a boy with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes introduced himself, "I'm Synar Menard, nice to meet you." The girl beside him, the one with the long black hair and brown eyes said, "My name's Silenna Canter, it's a pleasure." The one in the middle, whom Mayu recognized as Antino, who had the same hair color as his brother but with green eyes said, "Antino Menard, we met before. As you noticed I'm Synar's younger brother." The girl to Antino's left, a girl with short blue hair and golden eyes, said, "Luri Thodorn, it's good to see another pilot around." The last one, the boy with the long black hair in a ponytail and pale blue eyes, stepped up to introduce himself. Mayu noticed that he looked quite feminine for a boy and thought that if he was dressed up he would be mistaken for a girl on the spot, "My name is Kazuki Himori, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Morina nodded and said, "Now that everything's out of the way you five better get into the modules right now."

Silenna noticed what Morina said and asked, "Um, why just the five of us? Shouldn't Mayu and Elena join us?"

Morina gave her an icy stare for a second before replying, "No and for two reasons. One: those two already finished the first phase of the basic training program. Two: well since they were the only ones here on time I've decided to let them go anyway. Oh, and I'm adding a few more exercises to the program that you have to complete. Consider it your punishment for being late."

All five of them of them were shocked at what Morina told them. Some of them were about to object when they caught Morina's eye on them, in which case they stayed silent May couldn't help but looked slightly amused as they walked over to the modules looking like they were on death row or something like that.

Morina's attitude brightened when she turned to Mayu and Elena and said, "So, what do you two want to do?"

Mayu and Elena looked at each other for a second and Mayu replied, "I think I'll stay here and see what happens."

Elena wrote on her pad, "I'll stay with Mayu."

Morina nodded and said, "Okay then, come with me to the control room you two." She left for the control room at the side with Mayu and Elena following her.

Inside there was a big screen with an overview of the simulated battlefield. On the screen there were five armed M1 Astrays standing on one end of the base. Morina shouted, "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes ma'am!" All five pilots shouted back in unison.

"Okay then, begin!" Morina shouted as she pressed a button on the control panel.

As the program went on Mayu was amazed at how well they were maneuvering and noticed how each one had their own style of fighting. When they completed what Mayu recognized as the final part of the first phase of the training she could hear each of the pilots panting a bit in exhaustion. This was when Morina smiled and said, "Okay then it's time for the next round." She typed a few buttons and the Astrays that were scattered throughout the field were renewed and they gathered in formation. Morina continued to type on the keyboard and a mission profile appeared on screen. It had only one objective: to fend off the enemy assault.

When the battle started Mayu could tell that their reaction times were getting slower but not by that much. The battle lasted for half an hour and the three can hear the five pilots breathing quite hard. Mayu took pity on them and said, "Um, Morina, I think you should let them go now. They're probably gonna collapse at this rate."

Elena agreed with her which got Morina thinking for a bit. Then she said, "Okay then, you five can get out now. I was going to put you five through another one but Mayu took pity on all of you and convinced me to stop. Next time make sure all of you come on time okay?" The five pilots said in ragged voices, "Yes ma'am."

When the three of them came out of the control room they saw each of the pilots come out of the modules, looking totally exhausted. The worst ones were Silenna and Kazuki, who looked like they were about to drop dead. Morina looked at them and said, "You guys better clean yourselves up and get some rest." She was about to leave when she said, "Oh yeah, congrats on passing the first phase of basic training. I'll tell you all when the next phase is going to be later." With that she left leaving the seven pilots alone.

The five pilots collapsed onto the floor and both Mayu and Elena rush over to see if they were alright. Antino noticed their approach and said, "Don't worry you two, we're just exhausted. Jeez, that was brutal for the first phase don't you think?"

"Yeah, no kidding little bro. I don't think even ZAFT pilots go through that kind of training." Synar said.

"Ugh, that Morina so mean! She didn't even let us have a breather." Silenna complained as she struggled to get up.

"Oh quit your whinin' Silenna, we're just lucky that it didn't go on for longer than it did." Luri snapped, also trying to get back up.

"………" Kazuki didn't say anything as he tried to breathe deeply and relax. Mayu couldn't help but think that Kazuki just looked too girly to be a guy. She shook her head as Synar said, "By the way Mayu, when did you pass the first phase? We know Elena did, but she's been around longer than we have so it's not much of a surprise to us. So when did you finish?"

Everyone's attention was focus on Mayu, including Elena's which made her a bit nervous. She responded in a timid voice, "Um it was a few days ago. Morina was teaching me how to pilot a mobile suit and it kept on going until Morina congratulated me on finishing the first phase."

Everyone was dumbfounded at Mayu's explanation. They knew that the only way Mayu could've completed the phase while learning the ropes was that she had a real talent for piloting. After coming to this revelation they managed to get up and stand straight although, they were still a bit wobbly. Everyone except Mayu and Elena left saying, "Later Mayu, Elena."

With Mayu and Elena alone Mayu suggested, "How about we do some training together in the modules Elena."

She nodded and wrote, "I can set up the simulation battles in the module. Ash and Morina taught me how to do it from inside the module."

"Okay then, let's do this!" Mayu shouted as the two went into their modules.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, Morina's room_

Morina was on her computer looking over all seven of the pilots' combat data checking each of their performances. She was pleased that all of them had good results but she was especially happy about Mayu's performance from a few days ago. Even though she had no knowledge about piloting she came out with a performance of an above-average pilot. She thought to herself, 'Hmm, from seeing Mayu's performance I'd say that she'll be on par with an ace pilot when she finishes basic training. She might even be able to outperform me or my brother from the looks of it.'

Suddenly there's a beeping noise and Morina noticed her message icon pop up onscreen. She clicked on it and to her surprise it was a message from Ash. Morina opened up and found that it didn't contain much. All he said was that he was doing fine and asking for updates on the each of the pilots' progress every week. Morina laughed and said, "Jeez Ash, you could've at least added a bit more. That was when she noticed the P.S. It said, "I hope that you and Elena are taking good care of yourselves and that Elena's getting along with the other pilots."

She smiled at the note as Elena came in with her pajamas on. Morina turned her computer off to standby and the two of them climbed into bed together. She asked, "Are you alright Elena?"

Elena nodded and cuddled up to Morina as the two of them fell asleep. At the same time Mayu was in her room thinking to herself, 'I wonder where things are going to go from now on. My life changed the moment my parents and I were hit by stray fire and I was rescued by Morina and her brother. I hope that you're safe Brother, so that we'll see each other again someday.'


	2. The New Crew

Chapter 2 – The New Crew

_October 5, C.E 71 – on a shuttle bound for Orb_

Ash was on a shuttle escorting the Serene's new captain, Natarle Badgiruel, and one other person, a girl, to Celestial's headquarters in Orb, to get them registered as formal members of Celestial International, after the two had their military matters cleared up. After that he was going to bring them to Celestial's underground facility to introduce them to the crew of the Serene. He was looking forward to being back to someplace more familiar; the Dominion wasn't exactly comforting with the Blue Cosmos leader walking around like he owned the place.

Natarle for one thing was surprised to find that a well known organization like Celestial valued her skills more than the Earth Alliance, being chosen by the president of Celestial of all people. At first she was reluctant to take the offer due to her loyalty, which Ash commended, but after disclosing information about the Earth Alliance, or specifically the Atlantic Federation, and their deep connections it had with Blue Cosmos she immediately took the offer to join Celestial.

The girl who was with them was from one of the Dominion's escape shuttles that was rescued by fellow agents of Celestial, who were sent on a mission to protect a certain trio of Astray pilots. He didn't know the details of their mission but it was probably similar to his in some way. Anyway the shuttle and the three Astray pilots were escorted by the two agents in their modified M1 Astray High Maneuver Types to a separate location from the one Ash was to rendezvous with. Long story short the girl was place under Ash's care since she has an interest of joining Celestial and he was going back first.

The shuttle entered the earth's atmosphere and was heading for where the Kaguya mass driver used to be. Reconstruction of the mass driver was going on but Ash was quite sure that the driver won't be completed until much later. Natarle and the girl looked out of the windows and saw the damage that Orb suffered. Most of the commercial and residential areas made it out intact but they could see that Morgenroete and other military-related facilities were totally demolished due to the self-destruction system that was in the facilities.

As the shuttle landed at the small part of the Kaguya spaceport that was still intact, Ash said to himself, "Geez, this war was just too pointless in some aspects." Natarle and the girl reluctantly agreed with him after seeing the war with their own eyes.

The three of them exited the shuttle to find a car that was waiting for them. The three got in and the driver said, "Agent Sakuros."

"Agent Corona Sketser, it's good to see you again." Ash replied as the car started to move.

While they were driving through the roads taking a number of detours Ash asked, "So what's the situation these days?"

Corona replied, "Nothing much, the president been busy hopping around trying to get things organized while helping Orb back onto it's feet. Oh yeah, we have make a stop before we go to headquarters first."

Ash asked, "Why? Did something happen?"

Corona sighed and he explained, "Headquarters isn't exactly organized right now. Well have to get those two IDs before we can let them into headquarters. Security has been stepped up a bit due to the attack three months ago. Something about thieves and stuff like that."

The girls were a bit shocked that a humanitarian organization like Celestial would be a victim of theft. But then again, things could've been worse; they saw that in the war. The car pulled up to what looked like a storage building and Ash, Corona, and the girls got out. Corona escorted them into the building while Ash waited outside. He thought, 'I wonder what's going on back at the facility?'

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, Serene's harbor_

Mayu was watching the technicians perform checks on the Serene while thinking back on what happened during the last three months. She and the other pilots had only completed five of the seven phases of training with each phase getting harder and harder. Mix that in with being trained with guns and hand-to-hand combat, it feels like she enlisted in a military academy. Before she knew it three months had already passed.

She was still grieving over the death of her parents, although she was handling it better now, since time has passed and had Morina and Elena's support. A few days after the pilot incident she was guided and accompanied by Morina and Elena to where her parent's bodies were being kept, after being retrieved by Celestial personnel. She completely broken down in tears when she saw their bodies and after seeing them being buried in a cemetery owned by Celestial, she was in a state of depression. Thankfully Elena managed to snap Mayu out of it for the most part after a week, just in time for the second phase of training.

Getting to know the pilots was easier for her than she thought. From Morina she learned that all of them were orphans in some way. Mayu got along with Silenna and Luri quite well, except that she found Silenna's attitude quite overbearing at times, especially when she complains about something. Synar, the eldest of all of them, treated her kindly, which reminded her of Shinn. Antino still acted the same as the first time they met, which made Mayu frustrated although Synar said that he was just teasing her. The one she found most interesting however was Kazuki. Not only he looked like a girl due to being androgynous but he was quiet too, although she was quite shocked when she found out something interesting about him.

* * *

_Flashback - July 23, C.E. 71 – Celestial's underground facility, hallway_

_ Mayu was walking through one of the hallways on her way back to her room when she heard voices that she recognized as Silenna's and Luri's coming from one of the rooms she passed. When she got closer she heard Silenna say, "Oh, that's looks so cute, don't you think Luri?"_

_ "Yeah, it looks fabulous." Mayu heard Luri reply._

_ Mayu got curious as she knocked on the door. She heard Silenna say, "Who is it?"_

_ "It's me, Mayu." Mayu replied. Silenna's voice got all excited when she said, "Mayu? Oh good you should come in and see this!"_

_ "No, don't let her in here!" A feminine voice shouted. Mayu wondered who that was when Luri said, "Oh don't worry, one of these days she's bound to find out anyway. Come in Mayu!"_

_ When the door opened and Mayu entered she was greeted by a sight she couldn't believe. Silenna and Luri were standing near a clothes rack that had what looked like Lolita clothing on it. But what really shocked her was that Kazuki was standing there wearing a long black Lolita dress that had frills on it. She saw that he had a chest which she suspected that it was a stuffed bra inside his dress. He was blushing furiously that Mayu couldn't take her eyes off him and he said in a feminine voice, "Please don't look at me."_

_ Mayu's jaw dropped as Silenna and Luri ushered her in to explain everything to her._

* * *

Present time

Mayu still couldn't believe what Silenna and Luri told her. They took Kazuki from time to time, more when the two were bored, and dressed him up in various female clothes of varying fashions. Where the clothes came from they don't know although the rumor was that Morina was the owner of the clothes. She denied it on the spot, but people swore that they saw her sneaking between Celestial HQ and the facility carrying bags of clothes. When Mayu asked about Kazuki's voice they said that they used voice softeners developed by Celestial to make him sound more feminine although she wondered what the point of that was, since all they're doing is dressing him up.

She sighed at the thought and turned her thoughts to the last phase of training they did. To her it was a total disaster since it was all about teamwork. Everyone was off doing something when the enemy almost overwhelmed them. The only good part was when Mayu got fed up with the situation and managed to rally everyone else together for a final stand, although they got beaten by the AI anyway.

After all of that Morina talked with her secretly about making her the leader of the team. Mayu was surprised and tried to argue that she wasn't cut out for the job but Morina countered her by saying that she had the potential and she proved it during the last training session. Morina told her that she'll tell everyone the situation during the next session. Now Mayu was wondering what the heck she was going to do. The next session was in two days and she didn't have time to come up with something. She had heard that Ash was coming back today with the new captain of the Serene so she hoped that he could talk some sense into Morina.

Honestly, Mayu didn't know much about Ash, apart from that he was one of the people who saved her life during the Battle of Orb and that he was Morina's older brother. The other pilots seem to hold him in high regard, even Elena glowed at the mention of his name. All she got was the same story from all of them: that they owe their lives to him and Morina. They didn't mention what they did but she could tell that they wouldn't be together if it weren't for them. 'That's how I feel.' She thought to herself.

That's when Morina walked by carrying a suitcase and saw Mayu staring out at the Serene. She walked over and shouted, "Hi Mayu!"

"Eeayh!" Mayu shouted in surprise, drawing attention from a few people working on the Serene. She whipped around and said, "Moh, don't scare me like that Morina!"

Morina laughed and said, "Sorry, sorry. Just seeing how you're doing. It's only been three months yet it feels like you've been a part of Celestial for a long time."

Both of them stared at the Serene while leaning on the railing. The two were silent for a bit until Morina remembered something and took an envelope out of her suitcase. She handed it to her saying, "Here, this is for you."

"What is it?" Mayu asked as she took the envelope from Morina.

"It's the deed to your house." Morina replied as Mayu took out the contents, looking surprised, "As you know, your parents died and since they didn't leave a will the Orb Banks took possession of your house and all of the contents inside. Fortunately Celestial managed to buy the rights to your house off of them so now it's part of Celestial's property. But since I gave that deed to you, you now own your house Mayu. Oh, and don't worry about taxes and all that stuff, your paycheck covers all that."

"I see…" That's when Mayu noticed something in that last sentence and said, "Wait a moment, my _'paycheck'_?"

"Yeah," Morina scratched her head, "Didn't I tell you this already?"

"No! This is the first time I've ever heard of it!" Mayu told her, looking shocked.

"Oh, oops." Morina said with a smile, "Well, I'll give you your account number and key later then." Morina picked up her suitcase and said, "See ya." Morina walked away leaving Mayu shaking her head in disbelief. That was when Elena showed up and saw the look Mayu had on her face. Mayu noticed Elena and said, "Hi Elena, what's up?"

Elena wrote, "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, something like that. By the way, did you know about Celestial giving us paychecks?"

Elena was a bit puzzled at the question and wrote, "Uh, well of course I did. Celestial maybe a humanitarian organization but the people working here need money to live too. I thought this was common sense."

Mayu cringed that she never thought about it before until now. But then again, with everything that's been going on she the thought about a salary was the last thing on her mind. She sighed and said, "Well it's not like it's a big deal for me." That was when she remembered the deed in her hand, "Say Elena, how about I take you over to my house sometime? I just got the deed to my house from Morina."

"Sure, I'd be glad to." Elena wrote with a smile. Then she wrote, "Would the others be coming with us?"

"Of course, if they want to." Mayu replied. Elena stayed with Mayu looking out at the Serene, deep in their thoughts. On the other side of the hanger the other five pilots were hanging out together pretty much doing the same thing Mayu was, just hanging out and talking.

The five of them were talking about Mayu and what they think about her. Synar said, "You know, I think that Mayu doesn't like you very much lil' bro."

"So did everyone else at first Synar. Remember Silenna calling me an irritating git after our first meeting." Antino told him.

"Hey!" Silenna shouted, "That was because you said that I was just a pretty face that can't do anything. Now I can kick your butt in mobile suit training."

"Yeah, say that when you actually do." Antino sneered.

"Back on topic people, this is about Mayu." Synar reminded them, "Honestly, what do you think about her Luri?"

Luri thought about it before she replied, "I think that she quite nice actually. She's fitting in quite naturally if I do say so myself."

"Not to mention that Elena has grown quite attached to Mayu. Look over there." Silenna pointed across the harbor where they saw Mayu and Elena standing together.

"I see your point." Antino said, "So what about you Kazuki?"

"What about me?" Kazuki asked, startled.

"I mean Mayu. What do you think about her?" Antino told him.

"I…well…" Kazuki had trouble finding the right words for a bit then said, "I-I think that she's going to become someone important to us."

"I agree." Synar nodded, "Heck, I bet that she's gonna become the leader of the squad in fact."

Everyone spun their heads towards him in shock and Silenna said, "Come on Synar, don't joke around with us."

"I'm being serious here you guys," Synar said, with a serious look in his eyes, "From what I could tell from the last training session, Mayu managed to bring us back together in formation before we bit the dust."

"So what about it? That was probably just a fluke, not to mention that things were getting confusing on the battlefield." Antino said.

Luri put her hands on her hips and said, "But aren't you going to be made team leader Synar?"

"I would take the position," Synar started, "If there wasn't anyone else more fit for the job. Honestly people I sometimes have trouble keeping up with what's going on on the battlefield. I usually just focus on defeating the enemy."

Everyone couldn't argue with that, they all had the same mindset when they were on the battlefield. That was when Silenna noticed something and asked, "How do you know Mayu doesn't think the same way?"

"I don't really know," Synar told them, "But I've noticed from time to time during the training sessions that Mayu seemed to look around every once in a while during battle. It was like she was checking up on the situation."

Everyone was quiet when there was an announcement saying, "Will all of the Serene's crewmembers please assemble in hanger 1 for a special briefing."

"A special briefing? Wonder what this is all about?" Kazuki said to no one in particular.

"C'mon, we're part of the crew too you know." Synar said as he led everyone to the ground floor where the crew was gathering.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, corridor leading to Serene's harbor_

Ash and Corona led Natarle and the girl to Serene's harbor. Both Natarle and the girl were wearing Celestial's uniform that they received from the warehouse at the same time they got their IDs. They heard the announcement for the Serene's crew to be assembled at it's harbor from a guard at the entrance. Ash was briefing them, mostly Natarle, on what the Serene's technical aspects are, "The Serene is, as I said before, essentially a modified Archangel-class vessel that has an increased cargo space and mobile suit capacity. The weapons are essentially the same except we made some modifications to some of the weaponry like transforming the Igelstellungs into a beam machine gun variant. One of the main defensive aspects we improved besides reinforcing the laminated armor is the ship being able to use Trans-Phase Armor. Now before you say anything let me just say that while the ship passes over bodies of water the Trans-Phase Armor automatically disables itself if the ship crashes or submerges itself in bodies of water."

Natarle said, "This ship sounds very impressive, although I still don't understand why an organization like Celestial would need a ship like this."

"It's simple really," Ash said, "As of late there have been increasing attacks on our convoys by pirates and terrorists. The president had to make a contract with Serpent Tail a while ago, to make sure our space convoys stay safe as they travel between Earth and our bases at L1. Here on Earth it's a bit better, since the transports are rarely attacked but still, the threat's still there."

"I understand." Natarle replied. The girl looked nervous so Ash said, "Don't worry Red, everyone here nice. A bit eccentric maybe but nice nonetheless."

The girl didn't look convinced and Corona whispered, "Nice going smarty, now she thinks the organization's made up of weirdos thanks to you."

Ash shook his head and they made their way to the Serene's harbor. The four of them found a group of people lined up in rows together beside the Serene which he suspected was the crew. He saw Morina standing with the other pilots and all of them were more than happy to see him back except one which Ash recognized as the girl he and his sister rescued from the Battle of Orb three months ago.

Corona put his hand on Ash's shoulder and whispered, "Let me take care of this."

"Sure." Ash whispered back. He knew that he wasn't good at things like talking to the crowds due to his somewhat stage fright he had since he was a kid. Corona cleared his voice and said, "Hello everyone! As some of you may or may not know, I'm Agent Corona Sketser. The reason all of you have been assembled here is to meet the new captain of the Serene." He waved a hand to Natarle to come up, which she did, "She will be the captain of the Serene from now on, recommended by the president herself."

There were some whispers but other than that, everyone there seemed to accept what was happening. Corona said, "This is Natarle Badgiruel, our new captain of the Serene as well as a new member of our organization."

Natarle stepped up, bowed and said, "It's a pleasure working with you."

The crew saluted by placing their right hands on their chest and shouted, "We're in your hands captain!" Natarle was taken aback a bit and Corona whispered, "Don't worry about that, it's a formal salute within Celestial that we don't use too much, only during large-scale meetings like this."

Natarle nodded and Corona shouted, "Okay, that's all folks. Everyone except the bridge crew is dismissed!"

Everyone except Morina and the pilots as well as a few boys scattered and left the area. Morina and the others ran up to him and to everyone's surprise, Morina gave Ash a big hug and said, "Brother! I've missed you so much!"

Everyone there, especially the pilots, were surprised at what they saw. They've never seen Morina act this way before. She sounded and acted like they haven't seen each other in years. Ash noticed this and whispered gently, "Um, Morina? Remember where we are."

Morina seemed to snap back to herself as she let go hastily and mumbled in embarrassment, "Uh, I'm sorry."

Ash looked around and noticed three other boys standing with them. He asked one of them, "Hey Kain, where are the other three operators?"

The boy to the left, with short brown hair and matching eyes said, "Uh, I'm not sure. I don't think they showed up when the crew was assembled here."

Ash scratched his head, "Again?! Jeez those three may be the best operators in the organization but they should at least be punctual about this!"

He turned to Natarle and said, "Sorry about this Natarle, I honestly don't know what goes through the minds of those three these days."

Suddenly there was a shout that came from the side, "Sorry we're late everyone!"

Ash and the others turned and he said, "Where were you three-. Wait, what the heck is that?!" He pointed to what they were wearing on their heads.

The three girls were dressed in Celestial's uniform which was completely normal. What grabbed everyone's attention were the bunny ears that were on each of the girls heads. The girl in the middle, with her long brown hair and pale blue eyes, said to them, "Bridge bunnies reporting for duty sir!"

Besides the way she acted, the girl reminded Natarle a lot of Murrue. Now that she thought about it they did kind of look alike but their personalities were completely different. The girl to the left, with her shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes, noticed Natarle and said, "Is she the new captain? Wow, she's so beautiful! Our president sure has the 'eye' for this, doesn't she Shion?"

The last girl, with dark red hair and green eyes, replied in a shy voice, "Yes, she does."

Ash looked at them and asked, "Okay girls, I know I used the term 'bridge bunnies' once or twice but that doesn't mean that you three need to take it seriously."

The girl in the middle said, "But Ash, we just wanted to make a strong impression!"

"I think that may be too strong though." Ash whispered to himself. He shook his head and said, "Sorry about this Natarle, those three are just like that. Okay then, all six of you introduce yourselves to your captain."

All six of them gathered together and the guys went first. The one Ash called Kain, a pale redhead with matching eyes said, "I'm Kain Bertri, and I'm in charge of radar and navigation." The second guy, a boy with blond hair and blue eyes said, "Skyirn Chevosky, I'm the helmsman." The third one, a brown haired boy with blond highlights and grey eyes said, "My name's Terence Shun. My job's mostly to handle all the communications of the Serene."

The girls came up next and the girl that reminded Natarle of Murrue said, "My name is Marianne Ramius, and I'm in charge of the CIC."

'Ramius?! I'd better ask her about that later.' Natarle thought to herself as the others introduced themselves. The girl to Marianne's left said, "I'm Yuuki Shizuhana. I'm the munitions officer." The last girl said shyly, "Um, I'm Lusia Christiana, and I, uh, take care of the weapon functions of the ship."

All of them bowed and said, "It's a pleasure working with you Captain Natarle!"

That's when Ash said, "Okay then, all six of you are dismissed. Oh, and Marianne?"

"Yes Ash?" Marianne called back.

"Make sure you three don't wear those bunny ears the next time, you got that?" Ash shouted at them.

"Okay Ash!" Marianne shouted back as the six of them left the hanger. Then Morina whispered something to the pilots and all of them went up and started to introduce themselves. While this was going on Morina notice the girl that came with them and asked, "I hate to be rude but, who's the girl?"

Ash looked at the redhead and nodded for her and she walked over to his side. He said, "Okay Red, better introduce yourself."

The girl replied, "Um, yes! My name is Flay Allster, and I'm joining the crew of the Serene as a member of Celestial."

Morina said, "Allster? Isn't that-? Hey Ash, what's going on here?!"

Ash scratched his head and said, "Well you see, let me get to the beginning…"

* * *

_Flashback – September 27, C.E. 71 – Archangel-class battleship Dominion_

_The Dominion shook violently as it took another hit to it's side. Ash was listening in at the entrance of the bridge waiting for his chance to strike. He knew that this ship would probably not make it through this battle so this was his chance to nab Natarle and run off. He heard Flay shout, "Archangel, get out of the way! I repeat-!"_

_ That was when he heard Azrael hit her and shout, "What the heck do you think you're doing bitch!" That was when Natarle shouted, "Everyone abandon ship."_

_ At that moment Ash charged in and shot Azrael in the back twice before he could shoot Natarle. Azrael turned around to see who shot him and when he saw Ash, he sputtered, "Y-you…" before he collapsed._

_ Ash flew over and grabbed Natarle's hand and said, "C'mon, let's get out of here captain!"_

_ "Wait a minute! What the heck are you doing Ensign Kuzuki!" Natarle shouted as Ash dragged her off the bridge._

_ "No time, we need to get to the hanger before this ship sinks!" Ash shouted back._

_ It took only a few minutes for the two to reach the hanger. Inside there was Ash's 105 Dagger with the Aile Striker pack attached. Both of them went over to it and Ash opened the Dagger's cockpit saying, "Get in."_

_ Surprisingly, Natarle didn't say anything as she got in with Ash coming in after her. He sat down in the pilot seat as he booted up the Dagger. It came online and Ash aimed his beam rifle at the opposite end of the hanger and blew it open. With that, they managed to get outside only to see the Dominion fire it's remaining positron cannon at the Archangel. The two watched as the damaged Strike took the blast and was destroyed as a result. Ash was seething in anger as he whispered, "I knew I should have shot the bastard in the head."_

_ He flew the Dagger to the front of the Dominion's bridge to see that Azrael was the one who did fire the cannon. He switched to radio band that Azrael could hear what he said as well as the Archangel, "Go to hell Azrael!"_

_ Ash fired three shots from his beam rifle into the Dominion's bridge, destroying it and causing a chain reaction which blew the Dominion into pieces. Ash whispered, "Better get out of here." He then switched from radio band to Celestial's unique communication frequency and few past the Archangel._

_ While dodging fire and disabling mobile suits that got in the way Ash whispered, "That was one heck of a sacrifice."_

_ "What do you mean?" Natarle asked as Ash dodged incoming fire and disabled another mobile suit. Ash replied, "Celestial intelligence says that the pilot of the Strike was Mu La Flaga."_

_ Natarle's lowered her head in anguish. She knew him from her time on the Archangel and she knew that he was an excellent soldier, despite his personality. Ash on the other hand was starting to come close to the battle between the Freedom and the Providence. One of the shuttles from the Dominion was coming dangerously close to the battle and Ash saw the Providence shoot it's rifle at it. Ash pushed the Dagger's thrusters to the max as he headed towards the shuttle._

_ The Freedom managed to block it but Ash saw a DRAGOON pod head towards the shuttle from a different direction. Ash knew he wasn't going to make it when the pod fired but rushed over anyway. To everyone's surprise an M1 Astray High Maneuver Type bearing Celestial's crest flew in and blocked the shot with it's shield while Ash shot the pod with his rifle. He hailed the Astray saying, "This is Agent Ash Sakuros of Celestial. Thank goodness you made it in time."_

_ The pilot of the Astray replied, "Agent Shiki Lizorni, it's no problem." The Astray grabbed the shuttle and flew off while Ash covered their retreat. The Providence seemed to focus it's attention on Ash while he was desperately trying to get away while avoiding the shots from the Providence's DRAGOONs. That was when the Freedom intercepted one of the attacks and the pilot radioed in shouting, "Now's your chance to get away!"_

_ Ash turned his Dagger and turned the thrust to maximum saying, "Thanks for the save pilot." Ash fled the battlefield hoping that the pilot of the Freedom comes out of the battle alive._

* * *

_Lagrange Point 5, space convoy Refuge - a few hours after the destruction of GENESIS_

_ Ash was in the infirmary with Natarle wrapping a bandage around her head. Apparently his reckless flying during the battle tossed her around the cockpit a few times, despite holding on to the seat. Ash said, "Sorry about this."_

_ "It's okay." Natarle replied as Ash finished wrapping the bandage. Then she asked, "So who are you really?"_

_ "Ensign Isseni Kuzuki was only my cover; my real name is Agent Ash Sakuros of Celestial International. My mission: to bring you to Celestial and offer you the position of captain of the modified Archangel-class ship Serene." Ash told her._

_ Natarle was speechless at the fact that Celestial, which she knew was a humanitarian organization, was offering her a position of captain for a battleship that was like the Archangel. Ash then said, "So now I'll ask on behalf of our president: Are you willing to take the position as Captain of the Serene?"_

_ Natarle was silent for a bit while Ash watched her. Then she said, "Um, could you please let me think about it for a while?"_

_ Ash got up and said, "Sure, take your time. Oh, and it doesn't matter what your decision will be, Celestial will respect your wishes." With that Ash left, leaving Natarle to think._

_ Outside the infirmary Ash sighed and relaxed. He was a bit tense after the talk and that's when one of the crew approached him saying, "Agent Ash?"_

_ "Hm? What is it?" Ash asked._

_ "The captain of the Relief would like to speak with you. Please come to the bridge when you're ready." The crewman told him._

_ "I see. Thank you." Ash said._

_ Ash made his way to the Refuge's bridge where the captain of the Relief, Ruri Lagrange, was on-screen. The Refuge's captain, Nicholas Hergen, was talking with her about the situation. There was a running joke going on within Celestial that Ruri's parents named her after a character in a very old anime. Ash knew what they were talking about, but thought it was all just a coincidence. Nonetheless, some of the people in Celestial sometimes call her Ruri-Ruri much to her annoyance. And this was one of Nicholas' favorite pastimes._

_ "Agh, don't call me that when we're on duty!" Ruri shouted, as snickers can be heard from her bridge officers._

_ "But it's so fun! I guess I can only call you that when we're off duty then?" Nicholas said as his own officers smirked._

_ "No, don't call me that ever!" Ruri shouted back._

_ That's when Ash decided to make himself known and said, "Excuse me for interrupting this lively conversation but I believe Captain Ruri has something to tell me."_

_ Everyone on the Refuge's bridge jumped at the sight of Ash and even those on the Relief were spooked. Ash repeated himself, "Captain Ruri, you have something to tell me?"_

_ Ruri snapped back to herself and said, "Yes Agent Ash. First off, we have crewmembers of the Dominion with us. To the point one of them by the name of Flay Allster has requested that she join Celestial as a member."_

_ Ash said, "No offense but, what does that have to do with me?"_

_ Ruri explained to him, "Well, despite what answer Miss Badgiruel gives us you have to escort her to Celestial HQ. Since you're the only one that's heading to Headquarters she'll be going with you to get registered along with Miss Badgiruel if she accepts."_

_ Ash got the message and rubbed his head saying, "Alright, I got it. I'll escort both Miss Allster and Miss Badgiruel to Celestial HQ."_

* * *

Present Time

"Okay then, but that doesn't explain why she's here though. No offense Miss Allster." Morina said.

"It's alright." Flay replied. Ash explained, "Well, the president seemed to have gotten hold of the information before we arrived at headquarters. The secretary that was waiting for us said that she was going to be assigned to the Serene under the president's orders. What her job is, well, will be up to us two according to the President's instructions."

"Okay then. In that case, I'll show the captain and Ms. Allster around the Serene then." Morina told him. Then she turned to the two and said, "Could you two please follow me you two and I'll give you a tour of the ship." Morina turned and the three of them walked off with her saying, "Even though this is a modified Archangel-class ship there are some things that have been changed completely…"

Suddenly Elena ran forward and gave Ash a big hug with him saying, "Whoa Elena! Did you miss me that much?"

Elena looked up at him with a very happy smile as the others approached him. He noticed and asked, "So, how are all of you doing?"

Synar replied for everyone, "We're doing good Ash, except that Morina's been like a slave driver during training."

Ash raised an eyebrow and said, "Really? Same old Morina I guess. But that's to be expected; we don't want you guys to go out there with inadequate piloting skills you know."

When Elena let Ash go from the hug he noticed Mayu when Elena went back to her side. He extended his hand and said, "Well now, we finally meet Mayu Asuka. The name's Ash Sakuros, it's a pleasure. You can just call me Ash, I'm not much of a stickler for formalities."

"I-it's nice to meet you t-too." Mayu said nervously as she shook Ash's hand, "Thank y-you for saving me back t-then."

Ash let go of Mayu's hand and slapped her on the back saying, "Don't be so nervous Mayu! I'm not going to bite or anything."

Everyone snickered as Mayu said, "It's not like that!"

Ash laughed and then said, "Well then, will everyone show me the results of their training so far?"

Everyone except Mayu and Elena shouted excitedly, "Okay!" They all headed off towards the simulation room, with Ash taking up the rear.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, simulation room_

Ash was watching all of pilots going through the battle simulation he made up and was impressed with what he saw. He knew that they weren't up to his level but could tell that they were already better than average pilots. Ash was especially impressed with Mayu, seeing her performance was a bit better than the others. After her was Elena and he wasn't surprised, she was already training before the others came along. The other five were doing extremely well and Ash noticed that each of them had developed their own way of fighting.

After they finished the battle Ash asked, "So which phase of training are you guys on?"

Mayu replied, "Phase six: teamwork."

Ash sighed and said, "Now I remember, I read the report. It seems you guys have trouble working together for some reason. I can see that from the last battle you guys were in. In that case…" Ash was silent for a bit and then declared, "Mayu, you'll be in command of this operation."

Everyone was shocked and Antino shouted, "What?! Why's she in charge?"

Ash focused on Antino's portrait and said in a calm but deadly voice, "Are you doubting what I say Antino?"

Antino gulped and said in a quiet tone, "Uh, no sir." This seemed to hush everyone up. Only Elena seemed happy to hear that Mayu was going to be in charge. Mayu on the other hand seemed less than thrilled. All of the portraits shut off except Mayu's which she asked, "Are you sure about this Ash?"

Ash smiled and said, "Trust me on this one Mayu. I know that you can do it."

Mayu sighed and her portrait shut off. Ash imputed the battle data as he thought, 'I hope that Mayu can pull through this. I only appointed her command on a whim.'

In her cockpit Mayu was getting a bit nervous as the battle simulation started up. That's when Elena's face appeared on her monitor and held up her notepad which said, "I know you can do this Mayu. I believe that."

"Thanks Elena." Mayu said, regaining her composure. Elena smiled before her portrait vanished. Ash's voice radioed in saying, "The objective is simple, defend the base until the time limit expires which is fifteen minutes. All of you will be piloting the GAT-X105 Strike for this mission and I have allowed the use of the three basic Striker Packs to be used. Failure of the mission is when either all of you are wiped out or all three main facilities in the base are destroyed. That is all so please choose the Striker Packs you want equipped."

While this was going on Ash's face appeared on Mayu's monitor and she asked, "Yes Ash?"

"I want you to equip the Integrated Weapons Striker Pack for this mission. Simply put it combines all three of the Sword, Launcher, and Aile packs together. You can decline if you want but I will allow it if you agree." Ash told her.

Mayu thought about it for a moment before she replied, "Okay Ash, I'll use it."

"Okay then, I'll upload the data to your module." Ash said before his portrait vanished from Mayu's monitor.

After everyone chose their equipment and went over the general specs seven Strikes appeared on the battlefield. Elena, Silenna, and Luri chose the Aile pack. Antino and Kazuki chose the Sword pack. Synar chose the Launcher pack and lastly, Mayu came out with the IWSP. Everyone was surprised by what Mayu had but didn't say anything about it, which was lucky for Mayu since she was still trying to adapt to the controls. Ash's voice came through and said, "Okay then, the mission commences now!"

Instantly Mayu said, "Elena, Silenna, Luri! Get into the air and scout for incoming enemies. Synar, head for the hanger and attach the Launcher Strike to the base's power supply. Antino, Kazuki, patrol the base's perimeter and make sure nothing gets through."

"Roger that!" Everyone except Elena replied. The three Aile Strikes flew into the air while the Launcher Strike went to a nearby hanger to attach it's Agni cannon to the base's power supply. The two Sword Strikes positioned themselves on two corners of the base waiting for the enemy to strike. Mayu got her Strike up into the air along with the other three. Ash thought to himself, 'Mayu sure knows how to adapt to the situation very fast. And to think that she used to be an Orb citizen only three months ago.'

That was when Morina, Natarle, and Flay walked into the control room. Ash was surprised to see them there and asked, "Wanna watch?"

Morina replied, "Why not, I'm curious what you're up to." The other two didn't seem to have a problem and watch along with her. That was when Luri's voice shouted, "Incoming contacts from the south! 3 DINNs and a BuCUE are heading towards the base!"

"3 GINNs on Guuls and a BuCUE are coming in from the north as well!" Silenna shouted.

"Alright, Silenna and Luri will face the GINNs while Elena and I take out those DINNs. Antino and Kazuki will go after those BuCUEs. Synar will support Silenna and Luri." Mayu ordered.

"Roger that!" The pilots shouted and they went off to go fight the enemy. Inside the control room Natarle and Flay were surprised with what was going on. From what it sounded like it was if they were in an actual battle. Morina noticed their looks and told them, "We take pilot training very seriously; to make sure they come back in one piece you know."

Both continued to watch as the fighting started to get more intense with reinforcements showing up. After fifteen minutes passed Ash programmed the remaining enemy units to retreat. On the monitor the remaining DINNs, BuCUEs, and Strike Daggers started to retreat. Ash knew that all of them passed and was amazed that all of them managed to get out of the battle with a little damage; the ones with the most damages were the Sword Strikes. That was when a smile on his face appeared and typed in a few commands. Morina noticed this and said, "Oh you are so evil brother!"

"Hey, they need to be prepared for surprises." Ash told her. Then he shouted into his headset, "Warning, incoming mobile suit approaching from high orbit!"

"What, only one mobile suit? You've got to be kidding-?" Antino said when suddenly there was twin plasma blasts that was like the Strike's Agni cannon shot down near where Antino was. He shouted, "The hell was that?!"

Mayu took control and said, "Everyone regroup to the base!"

All the Strikes moved to where Synar's Strike was standing when the mobile suit that fired descended in front of them. They were all shocked to see what mobile suit had descended upon them. Inside the control room Natarle and Flay in particular were a bit shocked to see the mobile suit too. Flay whispered, "The Freedom…"

Ash's voice came through to all the pilots, "Slight change of objectives, you are to disable or destroy the Freedom."

Mayu sighed and saw first-hand the power of the Freedom at the Battle of Orb. She ordered, "Me and the Aile's will try to pin the Freedom to the ground, the Swords will try to corner it while the Launcher finishes it off with it's Agni. Move out!"

"Roger!" Four Strikes launched into the air again while the other three got into position. Back in the control room Morina asked, "Um Ash I have to ask, the pilot data you're using for the Freedom, whose pilot data you're using?"

"The original pilot's." Ash replied, "The one and only Kira Yamato."

"What?! Where did the data come from?!" Morina demanded.

"From one of our agents on the Eternal." Ash answered, his eyes glued to the monitor, "You know, you should keep your eyes on the monitor. You're missing prime footage."

Morina turned her eyes to the screen to see Mayu's strategy fall apart. The Freedom lost it's shield, but Kazuki's Strike was totally disabled, Silenna and Luri both lost their beam rifles to the Freedom's Full Burst Mode, Synar lost his Agni cannon to a beam shot, Antino lost his Schwert Gewehr anti-ship sword, Elena lost her Strike's shield arm, and Mayu was the worst off, having lost her rail cannons, one anti-ship sword, her beam boomerang, and her gatling gun shield. Antino was frustrated as he grabbed Kazuki's anti-ship sword and shouted, "What the hell is with this 'Beam Spammer God'! We can barely touch him!"

If it was any other moment the other pilots would have laughed but everyone was pushed to their limits. Mayu in particular was very tired and frustrated; the Freedom was a very strong opponent. She shouted to the others, "We'll try to ground it one more time…"

"It won't work, the Freedom's too fast now it's in HiMAT mode." Luri panted. The others were strained when the Freedom went for another round of attacks. Elena, Silenna, and Luri pushed with all their might to evade the Freedom's attacks but it seemed to specifically target Mayu. It took out it's Lacerta beam saber and tried to slash at Mayu. She managed to dodge it but took a kick to the head sending it flying.

Mayu screamed, "Aaagh!" as her Strike was spinning out of control. It was about to totally disable it when to everyone's surprise Elena shouted, "M-Mayu!"

That was when a violet seed appeared in Mayu's eye and burst, making her dodge the Freedom's attack within mere seconds. With that she took out two beam sabers from under her flight pack and charged straight for the Freedom. All the other pilots just seemed to watch the duel between the Freedom and the Strike as well as Mayu's sudden change in her piloting skills. Everyone in the control room was astounded but Ash and Morina looked at each other and Morina whispered, "She has it, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she has the SEED." Ash whispered back.

Everyone watched as Mayu fought the Freedom with great ferocity. She managed to get rid of it's beam saber and she slashed off the Freedom's head and rifle arm before it could react. Then she slammed her's Strike's foot into the Freedom's torso sending it crashing to the ground. That was when it's phase shift faded and Ash called out saying, "Mission complete people. All of you can take a break now."

Everyone in their cockpits seemed to collapse from the all the tension, especially Mayu, who almost fainted. After a few minutes everyone got out and was surprised to see Morina, Natarle, and Flay with Ash as all of them breathed heavily. Ash said, "Congrats, you all managed to pass the sixth phase before I sent the Freedom to chew you guys out."

All the pilots seemingly had daggers in their eyes and looked like they were out for blood. Ash saw this and said, "Uh w-well, I guess I'd better get going now…" He edged to the door and that was when Mayu shouted, "Let's get him!"

Ash bolted out of the room with the pilots running after him, leaving a shocked Natarle and Flay in the room. Morina sighed and said, "Well girls, this is the crew of the Serene."


	3. Gaining Experience

Chapter 3 – Gaining Experience

_December 15, C.E. 71 – Lagrange Point 4, space convoy Relief_

Mayu and the other six pilots were in the Relief's recreation room playing video games. After finishing all seven phases of basic training they were educated in the ways of how Celestial works. Some of it the others knew but some of it was recently inducted.

They were taught that Celestial International was established during the A.D. calendar, sometime before the Reconstruction War and had gained a reputation as a humanitarian organization during the war causing other humanitarian organizations to merge with it, as well as various other corporations start to sponsor it. The organization continued to grow and after the rise of Blue Cosmos in C.E. 17, the organization relocated it's headquarters from Ottawa in Canada to the Orb Union, saying that the organization would be more maneuverable if it had direct access to the ocean. The real reason however was that the rumor of Blue Cosmos having most of it' s influence in North America had them worried that they would attack their facilities. Things were fine up until C.E. 68 when Celestial's space convoys started to come under attack by pirates. They had purchased a few dozen Moebius mobile armors and a few Moebius Zeros from the Atlantic Federation to protect themselves. The PLANTs, or more specifically ZAFT, came to their aid a few times after the debut of their mobile suits and Chairman Clyne had made arrangements for GINNs to be sent to Celestial's colony at L4 out of good will. Thanks to that Blue Cosmos made a few attempts to attack the colony but quickly backed off after the world viewed the attacks very negatively, and Blue Cosmos never tried to attack them again after that. However the pirate attacks became more frequent making Celestial hire mercenaries on a frequent basis to protect their vessels.

They learned that Celestial's current president was inducted into the job in January of 69 and learned that her name was Mayumi Hearton. She pushed hard to incorporate military technology into Celestial for self-defense purposes but met with fierce resistance due to the reasoning that the various superpowers would view that as a threat, despite the president arguing that they would understand it would be for self-defense purposes only. With that the president made a few more sponsorships, one of those was Actaeon Industries, who's president was ironically President Mayumi's cousin. The rest they already learned about, how the current Celestial was made up of various employees and orphans the organization picked up, and now had the military technology to defend itself and more with it's R&D sections. They also have acquired a recent partnership with the Junk Guild and they regularly trade with each other. From all that, Celestial International became a multi-purpose organization although it's still known as a humanitarian organization.

The pilots also met a number of other people from the organization. One of those was the head of the agricultural department, Lenore Zala, who went by the name Rin Salamine these days. Her story was that a few days before the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, Lenore was called by Celestial to secretly help with one of it's agricultural programs. She agreed and when Junius seven was destroyed she tried to go back to the PLANTs but the president managed to convince her to stay with Celestial, saying that if the Alliance managed to find out that she was alive, then they would try to capture her and use her for propaganda. With that she stayed and changed her name to Rin Salamine and became the head of the Agricultural R&D section. She was shocked when she saw the sudden change with her husband, Patrick Zala, when she watched his propaganda speeches and was devastated when she found out that he ordered the creation of the weapon of mass destruction GENESIS and fired it twice, with a third shot aimed at Earth. She found comfort in the fact that her son Athrun managed to stop GENESIS and Patrick with the help of his friends. She was depressed soon after but managed to jump back to her feet after a while. One notable thing about the encounter was that Lenore said that Luri reminded her of her son Athrun, besides the eyes. Her appearance also changed, with her hair now being shoulder length to show that she had changed.

The person the pilots really want to me was President Mayumi but Morina said that after they come through on this escort duty they will have the chance to meet the president. The pilots were curious since they heard a few interesting things about the president from Natalie, some of which sounded unbelievable.

Now the seven pilots were on Relief assigned on guard duty and learned that all the space convoys in Celestial's possession were modified to carry ten mobile suits each. Also Morina came with them this time as an observer and to meet captain Ruri, who was a friend of hers. They were also introduced to the three other pilots on the Relief, Asagi Caldwell, Juri Wu Nien, and Mayura Labatt. They heard that they were the Astray pilots that were rescued in the Second Battle of Jachin Due by Celestial agents from Ash's story and were looking forward to working with them. Their story was that Celestial took interest in the pilots and asked them to join Celestial as mobile suit pilots. After consideration and a talk with Morgenroete engineer Erica Simmons they agreed to join Celestial.

Mayu was by herself lost in her thoughts when Morina came in and saw her standing by herself. She floated over and asked, "Is something the matter Mayu?"

Mayu shook her head and said, "No, not really."

"Okay, then. If there's anything bothering you, you can tell me okay?" Morina said before she turned her attention to the others. A few minutes later Ruri's voice came on saying, "We have arrived at Celestial's colony Heaven's Reprieve. Also Serpent Tail has rendezvoused with us and are requesting Morina Sakuros as well as all the pilots' presence on the bridge."

"Well, I guess Gai must want to say something to all of us I guess." Morina told everyone. She led everyone all the way to the bridge where they already found Asagi, Juri, and Mayura on the bridge. Morina thought, "Thank goodness all the bridges of the convoy ships are modeled after ZAFTs. I've seen Earth Alliance bridges and I could tell they weren't made to accommodate a lot of people.'

The person on the monitor was the head of Serpent Tail, Gai Murakumo. He looked like he was waiting for something and was deep in thought, to the point that he didn't notice Morina and the others appear on the bridge. Morina shouted out, "Hey Gai!"

Gai jumped and looked around and when he saw Morina he said, "Oh, Morina. Sorry about that."

"So why did you call my pilots Gai? I can understand if it's just me since you missed me so much but why them?" Morina teased.

Some people on Gai's end laughed a bit and he shouted, "Quiet!" When there was silence again he replied, "Ahem, well I just wanted to see how many mobile suit pilots you actually had on board. I was wondering, why do you still need us? I'm not complaining, it's just that you seem to have enough pilots for a proper escort."

"That wasn't something I was expecting you to say Gai. Well if you want an explanation, it's that the cargo we are loading onto the Relief is what you say, different. Honestly it's really valuable to Celestial and if any pirate gang gets a hold of it they would be able to make a very huge fortune off of it. The worst part is that word of it somehow had gotten out so Celestial is preparing for the worst." Morina explained. Then she added, "Oh yes, the pay will be 1.5 times the usual amount for this run."

Gai raised an eyebrow at the amount of money being offered and said, "Well if that's the case then I have nothing more to say. Oh and to the pilots: watch your backs, these pirate gangs have stepped up their game ever since the Second Battle of Jachin Due ended." Then Gai's face disappeared from the monitor.

Ruri said, "I haven't heard about this 'precious cargo' that's worth a lot. What are they?"

"Well, I can't say everything right now but what I can say is that along with the usual supplies and materials, we are also transporting two top of the line mobile suits to Celestial facility in Orb." Morina told her.

"I see. Does this have to do with Project GUNDAM?" Ruri asked.

"Yes it does." Morina replied.

"Um excuse me." Asagi interrupted, "But what's Project GUNDAM?"

All of the other pilots had the same questioning look and Morina sighed, "Okay I guess I can tell you. Back in February the president authorized a special project called Project GUNDAM in response to the increase of pirate and terror attacks on Celestial. The project's main goal is to incorporate military technology into Celestial for self-defense purposes only. To do that we had to, well for a better word, 'borrow' technology from both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance secretly with help from Morgenroete. Thankfully we have Celestial members in the military R&D departments in the PLANTs. Thanks to that progress has been going along fine but it seems we needed to step up from the original plan, which was integrating military technology into our existing technology. An example would be retrofitting our space convoys with cannons, turrets and mobile suit catapults. Instead we had to develop a whole new line of convoys with the power of battleships, like the Serene because Celestial had trouble retrofitting most of the convoys. I think that it will take at least another year before the project is complete."

Everyone was silent and an operator said, "The cargo loading is complete captain, we are ready to take off at any time."

"Understood," Ruri replied, "Tell Serpent Tail that we are departing in ten minutes."

"Yes captain." The operator replied and went back to work. Then Morina said, "Okay pilots, all of you will be placed on standby until further notice. All of you may leave now."

All of the pilots left and Morina said, "I hope those kids are ready."

"Don't worry about it Morina. Celestial has the best training programs. They won't die easily." Ruri assured her.

"I hope so…" Morina said before she left the bridge.

* * *

_Space convoy Relief, mobile suit hanger, three hours after launch._

All ten pilots were doing what most people would see as training. The only problem is that all of them were in their cockpits playing a simulation game that Celestial developed called Gundam Seed: Faces of War. Even though it was a game Celestial advised that all pilots treat the game as training or if they couldn't, then remember that real piloting is different. Honestly the pilots couldn't see it as a game since it was pretty much realistic enough that it was like the modules back in Celestial's underground facility, minus the shaking. Everyone was in their pilot suits minus the helmet since Morina told them to be on standby.

They were all playing together and were on a level that was like the mission they were on: protecting their mothership until it passed the safety zone. They were all piloting M1 Astray High Maneuver Types and winning mostly because Mayu was coordinating the battle as team leader.

"We have three GINNs coming in from the south." The battleship's radar officer said, "We also have five GINN High Maneuver Types coming in from behind!"

"Asagi, Juri, and Mayura can handle the southbound GINNs. Elena, Antino, and Luri, come with me and intercept those High Maneuver Types!" Mayu shouted.

"Roger that!" All six pilots said as the seven went off to their destinations. Everyone else was moping up the rest of the enemy from the previous assault.

"Two minutes until destination point." The battleship's captain told them. All the pilots heard that and they heard an explosion with Synar saying, "Sorry guys, I lost my Agni cannon but I'm still in this." He took out his beam rifle and started shooting at the enemy.

Asagi, Juri, and Mayura took out the incoming GINNs and were about to head over to help Mayu's group when they saw a sniper shot that nearly hit the battleship's engine. Juri shouted, "Mayu we have a sniper out there!"

"Shoot," Mayu grunted. They had taken out three of the HM Types but the other two were giving them a hard time. Mayu said, "Ugh, Silenna, Kazuki, guard the battleship's engine's with your shields, Synar, if you're out there already try to find the sniper's location. Ack, Asagi, you and the girls come over here and help; it seems this squad has reinforcements. I'll head over and try to find the sniper too."

Mayu blasted her Astray away from the fight while Elena covered her. "Thanks Elena!" Mayu shouted.

The sniper was still shooting and since there weren't any asteroids or debris nearby it seemed that the sniper was shooting under Mirage Colloid. The shots were still coming in and it seemed that Silenna and Kazuki's shields won't hold up for much longer when Synar radioed in. "I think I found the sniper, try and fire at these coordinates."

As Mayu got closer and targeted the coordinates that Synar gave her Silenna and Kazuki's shields were destroyed by the sniper's shots. The sniper was about to fire another shot when Mayu fired her beam rifle at the spot where the sniper was hiding. It deactivated it's mirage colloid and revealed itself as a Blitz Dagger with a built-in sniper rifle where the Trikeros shield should be. Mayu charged in and destroyed it in an instant.

At that moment the battleship passed the safety border and everyone relaxed as their monitors showed a statistics display of the battle. Everyone was satisfied with overall rating, which was an A. Everyone took a breather and that's when Ruri's voice sounded over the intercom, "All hands prepare for level 1 battle stations. All pilots report to their machines."

Mayu called in as she snapped on her helmet, "Um, everyone's already suited up and in their Astrays captain."

Ruri was surprised while Morina smirked and said, "Okay, prepare all launch procedures."

"All M1 Astray High Maneuver Types please prepare for launch." The communications operator told them. While this was going on Antino said, "From one battle to another huh?"

"Let's come out of this alive people." Synar said.

"Yeah I want to continue dressing up Kazuki so you better stay alive too okay Kazuki?" Silenna said.

Everyone laughed at that while Kazuki turned red from embarrassment. Morina's voice sounded from their radios and said, "All of you have been authorized to kill. These are pirates we're dealing with."

"Roger that." All the pilots replied as Morina signed off. Then the communications operator came back on and said, "From radar there are three Nelson-class, one Agamemnon-class, and two Laurasia-class carriers. The Nelson-class ships are coming from behind while the Agamemnon and Laurasia-class carriers are coming from both our sides."

"So we're dealing with three pirate gangs at once huh? This is going to be tough." Mayura said.

Mayu's Astray was being prepped for launch and the officer said, "You are clear for launch Ms. Asuka."

"Mayu Asuka, Astray launching!" Mayu shouted as her Astray was catapulted out into space.

A few minutes later everyone else had launched and everyone activated the Astray HM Types special feature: Phase Shift armor. Gai and his crew had launched too and he was looking around in his Astray Blue Frame. He said, "It seems that your cargo has attracted a lot of attention Morina."

Morina replied, "I guess so. What can you guys handle?"

"I think my crew can take care of the Nelson and Agamemnon-class." Gai said.  
"Then that leaves us with the Laurasias then." Morina said, "You heard people, now get going."

Mayu instantly took command and said, "Synar, Antino, Silenna, Luri, and Kazuki, stay and guard the Relief. Everyone else, come with me and form a defensive formation."

"Yes ma'am." The other pilots said as they followed orders. Gai listened in after he shouted his own orders and said, "That pilot, Asuka. She seems to be a natural in command."

"I guess, she may not like it but she can manage with training from me." Morina said.

"Learning how to command from you? Now that's scary." Gai said as he sped off.

Ruri giggled while Morina scowled. The radar officer said, "Mobile suits have launched from enemy ships!"

"I guess it's time." Mayu whispered. Then she realized how natural it seemed to be for her to be in a mobile suit cockpit and how much she changed. It's been over six months since she joined and yet it feels like she's been with Celestial for longer than that. Everyone except Asagi, Juri, and Mayura seemed to feel the same way. Then Mayu shouted, "Lets get them ladies!"

"Yeah!" The pilots with Mayu shouted as they went and engaged the enemy GINNs coming from the Laurasias.

About ten minutes into the battle the enemy ships came into range but each pirate gang already lost about half of their mobile suit forces. All of Celestial's Astrays had about half of their battery energy left and Synar was blasting the enemy ships with his Agni cannon (his Astray had a modified Launcher Striker pack attached) that was attached to the Relief's energy supply. Some of the enemy GINNs and Strike Daggers had bypassed Serpent Tail and Mayu's squad and were attacking the Relief. Serpent Tail's Laurasia defended the Relief the best it can but the fact was that, despite it being refitted with weapons and had mobile suits to defend it, the Relief wasn't made for battle and the damage was starting to show. Now all mobile suits had retreated to the two ships' location and focused solely on defense.

Eventually the pirates' firepower eventually decrease but many of the mobile suits had to head back in due to running out of power or had taken too much damage. Now only Mayu, Elena, Asagi, Synar, Gai, and Gai's wingman, Elijah Kiel, were left. The Agamemnon had retreated due to severe damage but there were two Nelsons with half a dozen Strike Daggers and one Laurasia with five GINNs and three GINN HM Types. Synar had detached the cable attaching the Agni to the Relief since he needed to get off the ship.

Silenna and Kazuki came back out since their batteries were replaced with charged ones. Everyone else was around 30% power left except Synar but everyone was pretty exhausted. Gai muttered, "These bastards are so persistent." He shot an incoming Strike Dagger in the chest, destroying it.

"Ngh, training was worse than this." Synar said as he switched his customized Agni cannon to shotgun mode and fired at the group of GINNs, which they dodged but managed to nick a few in the arm or leg.

Mayu and Asagi were dealing with the HM Types and were getting frustrated. Even though the High Maneuver Astray was more mobile than it's GINN counterpart the pilots were flying like aces. Finally the two had an idea where they went together back to back facing two GINN HM Types and when each fire their beam rifle at the same time Mayu and Asagi dodged at the last second and the beams hit the opposite GINN destroying them.

Elena was busy trying to cover Synar as he continued to fire his Agni cannon. That's when he switched his Agni cannon for a pair of beam sabers saying, "I'm a long shot at best but I don't mind the hands on approach. Let's go Elena!"

Elena nodded as she switched her beam rifle for her sabers and charged after the GINNs with him.

Gai and Elijah were handing the Strike Daggers with the help of Silenna and Kazuki. Eventually they managed to get rid of all the Daggers and Serpent Tail's Laurasia managed to down another Nelson. After that the remaining Nelson retreated and the four went to go help the others.

Eventually all the GINNs were destroyed and Synar made a big bang by shooting his Agni right through the enemy Laurasia. Everyone was tense for a moment but when the Relief's radar officer told them that there were no more enemies all the pilots relaxed and Gai said, "That was one heck of a battle, not to mention that we all look a bit battered. C'mon Elijah, let's head back."

As the two went back to their ship Mayu and the gang flew back to the Relief. Back inside she could see the extensive damage the Astrays took. By the look of things only half of the Astrays looked like they would be ready for battle in a short time. All the pilots went to the changing room with the girls on one side and the boys on the other, with the lockers separating them.

Everyone was silent as they got changed into their Celestial uniforms. They looked similar to the Orb military ones except that the linings were navy blue with Celestial's crest, the earth with a red cross and white wings behind it, on the right chest and shoulder sleeves. Celestial Agents were a bit different, being identified with an additional crest above Celestial's, folded white wings over the earth. Asagi, Juri, and Mayura didn't say anything; they sort of felt the same way after the Battle of Orb and it was their very first time in live combat.

Morina was waiting for them when the ten of them got out and she asked softly, "Are you guys alright?"

They all nodded slowly but Elena ran forward and hugged Morina, she wasn't crying but there were tears in her eyes. Morina patted her head and said softly, "I know, killing for the first time can sometimes be hard but let me remind you, those were pirates who steal from others for their own greed. Believe me they came after us for the 'treasure' on this ship, not for survival. They had it coming to them. So don't dwell on it okay guys?"

Everyone seemed to understand and they brightened up a little bit. Asagi, Juri, and Mayura were watching them. They were glad that Morina was there to support the rookies and they were going to try their best to help too. That was when Mayura asked, "So how was your first time piloting Morina?"

Everyone looked up and Morina let go of Elena replying, "Well, let's just say I was terrified at first. Back when I was still with ZAFT my first battle was the battle of Yggdrasil. But the moment I went into battle it seemed my body was moving on it's own as I fought. I was lucky to have made it out of there alive though." Morina shook her head at the memory.

All of the others had listened with interest and that was when Luri asked, "Hey that reminds me, you're a coordinator right? But Ash is a natural, yet he's your biological twin. How is that possible?"

Everyone looked at her which made Morina feel like she was on the spot. No doubt that they heard stories of Celestial's famous duo and some rumors about their history. Morina sighed and said, "Well, it's quite simple really. We seemed to have already 'separated' before the procedure to turn me into a coordinator took place. Apparently from what I was told was that since my parents had only paid only enough for one procedure to take place they apparently chose me to go over the procedure."

The explanation apparently brought back a painful memory from when she was still a child, from the time she and her parents were moving to the PLANTs.

* * *

_Flashback, April 9, C.E. 63 – Sakuros residence_

_ Ten year old Morina was returning from the bathroom when she heard arguing from the living room downstairs. She walked to the stairs and was about to go down when the arguing was loud enough that she could hear them quite clearly. It was an argument between her parents, Kinoki and Lina Sakuros and her aunt, Nanami Sakuros._

_ "Are you serious about this?!" Nanami shouted, looking quite angry._

_ "Please quiet down Nana," Lina begged her, "We're just asking you to take care of him, he's loves you."_

_ Nanami was fuming and Morina couldn't understand why. That was when Nanami said in an icy tone, "So this is it?! You're going to leave Ash with me while you take Morina and move to the PLANTs, is that it?!"_

_ Morina was shocked at what her aunt just said. When her parents told her that they were moving to the PLANTs she was sure that they meant all of them. Now that she thought about it their tone seemed to address only to her and when she told her brother about it, he said that he had no idea that they were moving to the PLANTs. Then Kinoki's voice said, "We have no choice, Ash wouldn't be able to keep up with the schools they have there and most of the children there are coordinators. He would most likely be alienated by them."_

_ There was silence but Morina could tell that Nanami was giving them an icy stare that complemented her tone. Honestly she had never heard her aunt so angry before. Then she said, "So why are you moving to the PLANTs huh? I bet it's because of all those Blue Cosmos attacks huh? Even if we live in Orb you think that they will reach here huh?" _

_ Nanami's tone became icier that even Morina shivered at the sound of it, "Does that give you the right to just abandon your own son? I heard that he had no idea that you guys were moving to the PLANTs. He had to hear it from her own sister rather than his parents!_

_ "I love Morina with all my heart as much as Ash, but I can't stand by and watch this happen!" There was a bang which made Morina assume that Nanami banged her fists on the table. Kinoki and Lina were silent carefully trying to figure out what to say next. Then Kinoki said, "Look Nana, we're just saying that you should take care of him until this Blue Cosmos thing blows over. We'll be back and-."_

_ Kinoki suddenly stopped as Nanami seemed livid with anger she said in a quiet yet deadly voice, "There you go again, all you do is seem to care about Morina's wellbeing. I've seen it, how you two favor Morina over Ash."_

_ Lina protested, "How could you say that Nana? We have always-!"_

_ "What. Utter. Bullshit." Nanami interrupted, reverting to her icy tone, "I have watched those two grow up when you asked for my help in raising them. I have seen how you treat them individually. You have always favored Morina over Ash. At parties all you two seem to talk about is Morina. Heck, you been to all of Morina's events yet haven't been to even one of Ash's," At this Morina remember that at all of Ash's martial arts tournaments, it was only her and Nanami watching him, her parents saying that they had to work overtime, "I can go on and on but it would take until morning to finish. I bet Ash has been ignorant of everything because he loves his little sister very much to care about anything else but I won't tolerate it anymore."_

_ Nanami got up and walked out of the living room and to the foyer. She turned back and said, "I'll take care of him, but you better tell Ash the whole story." She put on her shoes and coat and left slamming the door behind her. After that Morina got up and ran to her brother's room. She opened the door and found Ash sleeping in bed. Morina crawled in with him and sobbed for a bit before falling asleep._

* * *

Present time

"Uh Morina, are you alright?" Mayu asked.

"Huh, what?" Morina said, snapping back to reality.

"What happened, you seemed out of it for a while." Asagi told her.

Morina sighed and said, "It's nothing, just a bad memory." That was when Ruri's voice came over the intercom, "Morina, please report to the bridge. Mr. Murakumo wants to talk to you."

"Oh man, he just can't get enough of me." Morina joked, "Okay everyone, relax and I'll see you later." She left them and luckily they didn't see the tear that fell from Morina's face.

* * *

_December 17, C.E. 71 – space convoy Relief holding orbit over earth_

The last few days were quite eventful. After the initial attack on the Relief the pirate attacks continued but there were a lot less pirates than the first battle. Eventually the Relief and Serpent Tail managed to reach orbit over Earth and the Relief was preparing final preparations for reentry. All of the Astrays were repaired and the pilots were all split up. Asagi, Juri, and Mayura were with Silenna, Luri, and Kazuki with Silenna and Luri introducing the other three to their Kazuki 'dress up' hobby (they were currently trying to get him in a female Celestial uniform). Synar and Antino were sparring with each other in simulated mobile suit combat. Elena was playing with Morina in her room. Mayu was staring out of a window looking at the Earth. She thought, 'Wow, the Earth is so beautiful from up here.'

Suddenly the alarm went off and Ruri's voice came on the intercom, "All hands level 1 battle stations! All pilots report to your Astrays!"

Within minutes all the pilots were assembled and headed for the change room. Kazuki in the female Celestial uniform made a few heads turn with him shouting, "Please stop staring!" They all changed into their pilot uniforms with a few jokes from the boy's side and they all boarded their Astray HM Types.

Each one was prepped to the catapult was ready for launch. "Astrays, you are clear for launch."

"Mayu Asuka, Astray launching!"

"Antino Menard, Astray let's rock!"

"Silenna Canter, Astray moving out!"

"Luri Thodorn, Astray launching!"

"Kazuki Himori, Astray heading out!"

"Asagi Caldwell, Astray launching!"

"Juri Wu Nien, Astray launching!"

"Mayura Labatt, Astray launching!"

"Synar Menard, Launcher Astray ready!"

"Elena Sumire, Astray launching."

Everyone was surprised to hear that from Elena since everyone in Celestial knew about her problem but Morina explained, "It's a recorded voice that I made until Elena gains the ability to speak again. Everyone understood when Elena's face appeared onscreen holding up her pad which said, "I'm sorry!" before she terminated contact.

Serpent Tail also launched their mobile suits which were only half of their complement, seven units including Gai's Blue Frame and Elijah's GINN.

The communications officer briefed them on the situation, "There are three Laurasia-class and three Nazca-class carriers coming at us from the front and are launching mobile suits."

"Say what?! There's no way we'll be able to beat off that many enemies!" Antino shouted.

"For once I agree with you Antino, there's no way we can win this." Synar said.

"What do we do Mayu?" Silenna asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Mayu replied, "Morina do you have any ideas?"

"Hmm, all we can do now is to take down as many mobile suits as fast as you can before we get into those ships' range." Morina advised.

"I agree," Gai said from his Blue Frame, "The Relief can't move as it's preparing for reentry." Suddenly there was a message for Elena that she responded to and Kazahana Aja appeared on her monitor saying, "Please be careful Ellie!"

Elena wrote on her pad, "I will Hana, I won't let these dirt bags get the best of me!"

As Kazahana's face vanished Morina watched the exchange between these two and thought, "Elena's growing up fast and she's made friends with Kazahana Aja too, although I'm kind of worried about her choice in vocabulary."

The radar officer said, "Incoming heat sources identified as mobile suits. ETA is two minutes."

"We still need ten minutes to prep for reentry captain." An officer informed.

"Message from Headquarters, it seems that an escort has taken off and will make contact with the Relief within five minutes." The communications officer said.

"Five minutes? Okay people, reinforcements from Headquarters have been sent to aid the Relief. Just hold on for five minutes until they get there." Morina shouted.

"Okay then, we'll let Synar and Antino stay back to protect the Relief. Everyone else follow me in defensive formation." Mayu ordered.

"Uh, not to be rude or anything but why do I have to stay back?" Antino asked.

"Because if you don't Synar would be vulnerable to close combat and he can't switch fast enough to defend himself." Mayu flatly explained.

"Oh," was all Antino could say as the other Astrays flew in formation. Gai and his team came up behind him and said, "So what's the plan Miss Asuka?"

"Simple: delay the enemy while destroying as many mobile suits as possible." Mayu replied.

"We can handle that." Gai said as the Serpent Tail and Celestial forces scattered and both the Laurasia and Relief fired their main cannons at the incoming mobile suits, causing them to scatter.

The battle was tough and Gai gritted as he destroyed a GINN, "Damn, it had to be those guys."

"Who the heck are you talking about?" Mayu asked as she forced back a GINN High Maneuver Type back and tried shooting it with her rifle.

"These guys are the roughest pirates I've known to date. They call themselves the Awakened for some reason I don't want to know. They have their symbol, a skull with black wings behind it on all their ships. All I know is that they are famous for not taking prisoners." Gai explained.

"Tch, then we'll show them a rude awakening then!" Mayu shouted as she slashed a CGUE in half making it explode.

"That's what I like to hear!" Gai shouted as he slashed at a GINN.

Three minutes into the battle everyone was still around yet three of Gai's men had to retreat due to heavy damage. He muttered, "Got to get that Phase Shift technology, it would save a lot of unnecessary repairs."

A few GINN HM Types had slipped passed the group and were attacking the Relief with Synar and Antino trying to fend them off. Everyone was doing alright but their battery life had dropped to around fifty percent do to all the bullets and missiles flying around. Everyone was outnumbered at least two to one and it was starting to stress everyone out. Silenna had just managed to get a CGUE off of her and she sliced it in half. She shouted, "What the heck is with these guys?! They even have CGUEs, it's like we're dealing with ZAFT!"

"Yeah except that these guys are real bloodthirsty." Kazuki said as he fired at incoming GINNs.

Mayu was severely outnumbered 3 to 1 and everyone else was cut off from her. She was frantically dodging all the GINNs attacks as they attacked her. Even though all of the GINNs' weaponry were kinetic weapons it would drain her battery a lot faster if she kept getting hit. She slashed her saber at the closest GINN but missed as missiles exploded from behind, rattling her cockpit. Mayu saw that her Astray's phase shift and controls had malfunctioned rendering her open to the charging GINN pointing it's sword at her. Everyone saw what was happening and tried to help her but they were cut off by their opponents. Mayu saw that the end for her was coming as the GINN was about to slice her in half.

Suddenly a beam shot came out of nowhere and pierced the GINN through the chest, going through the battery and causing it to explode. Another two shots destroyed the other GINNs, surprising the pirates and a few looked around with one of them shouting, "Where did that come from?!"

The radar officer on the Relief said, "Two heat sources detected, they're mobile suits."

Another one said, "Ten minutes until reentry, destination is the Onogoro bay."

"Roger that, and try to make contact with the unknowns. They may be the reinforcements from Celestial."

The two mobile suits flew over to Mayu's Astray and she recognized the two mobile suits. Both were the GAT-X105 Strike with Aile and Integrated Weapons Striker Packs, although the one with the IWSP was black and was a bit different, like what looked like a pair of pistols were around the waist. The pilot went on the channel and said, "This Ash Sakuros of the GAT-X105E Strike E reporting Relief. Me and Flay Allster are your reinforcements."

"Roger that Agent Ash." Ruri replied. Morina butted in and asked, "So when did Flay complete basic training Ash?"

"A day before you guys left for the Relief. Sorry, no time to chat, the enemy won't wait. Let's go Flay, Mayu!"

"Yes sir!" The two shouted as the three of them blasted back into the battle. The enemy was startled by the appearances of the two Strikes but managed to retain their focus. Within five minutes three-fourths of the enemy mobile suits had either retreated or were destroyed and two Laurasias and one Nazca was destroyed and the Awakened pirate gang was in full retreat.

As the enemy retreated Gai came on the line and said, "Hey Ash, it's been awhile."

"Yeah, it has Gai. Oh yeah, I have a message for you from the president. She says that since this run was, for a lack of a better term, 'special', Celestial is going to pay you three times the usual amount for this one." Ash replied.

Ash and Morina who was listening from the bridge could tell that Gai was a bit shocked at the amount of pay Serpent Tail was getting but didn't question it. That would go against what being a mercenary was all about. All he said was, "Okay then, and tell the pipsqueak president I said hi then." Then Gai and his men went flying back to their Laurasia.

Then all the Astrays went back to the Relief while the two Strikes flew to a mobile suit shuttle that was approaching the Relief.

On the bridge all the pilots were gathered there with Ash and Gai's faces on the monitor. Gai said, "Well I guess we'll get going then. That pay's going to be quite useful; some of our units were totaled in the last battle."

"Yeah see you later." Ash said. Gai's portrait was about to go offline when Kazahana's face came on and said, "Bye Elena!"

Elena waved back at her before the screen went off. Now Ash said, "Okay then let me clarify some things with all of you. Flay Allster will join the Celestial as a mobile suit pilot. The president has already agreed to it so her and her Strike will be transferred to the Serene in a few days. Now the machine I piloted, the GAT-X105E Strike E, the pilot for that one isn't me, the Strike E goes to Mayu."

Everyone whispered to themselves and Ash continued, "The other six units are finished, they just ran into technical difficulties. When Flay and I were suddenly assigned to back up the Relief, only the Strike E was fully operational, not to mention we didn't have anymore Astrays either. I'll announce the pilots of the other machines when we get back to Orb." With that he cut the transmission before anyone could say anything.

Morina for one thing just got up and left the bridge without saying anything, leaving everyone else a bit confused by her behavior. Then Ruri said, "Okay pilots you can all head back to your rooms while we start the reentry process."

* * *

Everyone gathered in the room Mayu and Elena shared and were talking about the last battle. Then it shifted to the subject of the Strike E with Luri saying, "So the Strike E goes to Mayu huh? That was a bit of a shocker."

"Yeah tell me about it; it makes me wonder what our machines are going to be." Antino said.

Asagi said, "Oh, I'm kind of jealous, you guys get new machines. The three of us are still stuck in our old Astrays."

Juri nodded, "Yeah, even if Celestial did modify our Astrays, they're still the same ones from the war."

This clicked something within Mayu and asked, "You guys were fighting in the war?"

"Yeah, we were onboard the Kusanagi, part of the Three Ships Alliance fighting both ZAFT and the Alliance." Mayura told them.

Suddenly Ruri's voice came on air and said, "All hands, prepare for reentry."

The Relief shook as it began it's reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Juri said, "It's been so long since we've last been back at Orb. We've been stuck on the Relief ever since the Second Battle of Jachin Due. It's nice to be going back home."

"Don't expect too much. Orb's still recovering from the battle in June and it still looks a mess in certain areas." Silenna told them. Mayu butted in saying, "Don't listen to her, Orb's doing great. The recovery is coming nicely thanks to Celestial's help."

"It's okay, the three of us have seen what happened during that battle, and we know it wasn't pretty." Asagi told them.

Mayu sighed and looked down since talking about the Battle of Orb made her remember that she lost her parents and was separated from her brother that day. Elena leaned on her making her snap out of it and she patted Elena's head.

Juri looked at the two and said, "You know, Elena's quite the pilot. Her skill's amazing but I've got to ask, how old is she?"

"Elena's eleven believe it or not. She's an orphan that Ash and Morina rescued from a colony in L4." Synar answered.

Juri and the other two fell silent. They knew that some of the colonies at L4 weren't abandoned and were still functional, not to mention that some of them are populated and were known to be, in a parent's terms, not the best place to grow up. That explained why Elena couldn't talk. Growing up in one of those colonies wouldn't be the best of experiences.

Elena clung to Mayu with Mayu comforting her. Talking about it seemed to bring back some bad memories. Kazuki changed the subject back to the topic about mobile suits saying, "So, what do you guys think the new mobile suits are? I mean we've seen what the Strike E can do, so what of the other ones?"

That was when Ruri's voice came on the intercom saying, "All hands, we have successfully completed reentry. ETA to Orb is 15 minutes."

After that Antino got up and said, "You know, let's not talk about it right now. We'll leave that as a surprise. Well then I guess I'll head back to my room."

Everyone else got up and they all said goodbye to Mayu and Elena as they left the room. When the two of them were alone Mayu said, "So, how about a game of cards Elena?"

Elena nodded happily as Mayu took out a deck of cards and started to shuffle them.

Elsewhere on the Relief, Morina looked over the battle records of the battles that took place over the past few days. As she watched she thought to herself, 'That was one heck of a first experience for those seven. At least it shows that Celestial's training programs are working at least.' She sighed and thought, 'Those attacks were more vicious that even I expected. I'd better send a request to the president not to leak information like that anymore.'

She switched the screen to a camera view of the cargo bay holding two mobile suits in containers they received from Celestial's colony. Morina continued to think, 'I kind of wonder what kind of information was leaked though. I don't think even gold would have lured that many pirates. Jeez, we are not doing that anymore, we'd need to think of a better way to introduce pilots to the battlefield.'

Morina switched the view screen to a screen showing a file of the Serene's pilots and their assigned mobile suits. She typed adding Asagi Caldwell, Juri Wu Nein, Mayura Labatt, and Flay Allster to the list along with Flay's mobile suit. She thought for a moment then put a note saying that the other three will receive new mobile suits before saving and closing the file.

Morina was silent as she continued to look at the containers which held Celestial's newly constructed mobile suits, the ZGMF-X09A Justice and the ZGMF-X10A Freedom.


	4. Celestial's President

Chapter 4 – Celestial's President

_January 10, C.E. 72 – Celestial's Headquarters_

Ash and Morina were leading Natarle and the Serene's pilots to President Mayumi's office. They would have visited her in December after the Relief trip but to their surprise, the president suddenly decided to go on a one month vacation a day before they returned to Orb. Everyone could remember Ash's reaction to the news, "Dammit, she just had to go on a vacation right when Project GUNDAM is at it's peak!" he ranted. Everyone present thought it was kind of funny the way he went on about President Mayumi.

After that it was decided that the pilots and Natarle should see firsthand what Celestial does as a humanitarian organization. So a few days after Christmas, which all of them spent at Mayu's house by the way, they were sent to a seaside village in Japan called Umiguro after the village was hit by a tidal wave. Everyone was hesitant at first due to seeing all the destruction but in the end, everyone was able to help out, even befriending some of the locals before leaving.

Now everyone was in an elevator heading for the top floor of Celestial HQ. The elevator was large enough to fit everyone but they still felt uncomfortable since they were standing close to each other. Suddenly Luri shouted out, "Hey, who touched my butt?!"

Everyone looked at each other and Luri said, "I bet it was you Antino!"

Antino shouted back, "How the heck could it be me?! I'm in a corner while you're at the door Luri!"

Luri turned around and saw that it was true. Then she asked, "Then who the heck touched me?!"

"Sorry about that Luri. It was me." Silenna confessed.

Luri sighed and said, "Geez Silenna don't do that! It felt like you were feeling me up!"

Everyone was silent after that and Ash thought to himself, 'Oh man, I hope it won't be like this on the way down.'

The elevator reached the top floor and the door opened. Everyone except Ash, Morina, and Natarle spilled out like they were desperate to get out. The three followed them in and found themselves in what looked like a grand hall of sorts. In the middle of the hall stood a woman with long black hair in a ponytail and brown eyes. She was in a casual business suit but all the pilots were amazed at how beautiful she was. They assumed she was in her mid-twenties when Ash and Morina stepped up and Ash said, "Hi Aunt Nana."

The woman saw the two and rushed over giving them a big hug saying, "Oh Ash, Morina, it's so good to see you two again."

Everyone was surprised at what Ash said as similar thoughts ran through everyone's head, 'That woman is their aunt? That's impossible, she looks too young!'

Ash and Morina turned to face them and Ash said, "Let me introduce you guys, this is our aunt, Nanami Sakuros. She's one of President Mayumi's secretaries. Aunt Nana, these guys are the pilots of the Serene and the woman behind them is the captain, Natarle Badgiruel." Morina turned to Nanami and asked, "Where's Via?"

"She's inside with the president." Nanami replied, "Please follow me everyone. The president has been expecting all of you."

She led everyone down the hall and came to a pair of wooden doors. She opened them and they entered a reception room, where they saw two desks covered with papers on top. Nanami said, "Please, don't mind the mess. It's just that with Project GUNDAM proceeding as planned, a lot of reports have come in."

Nanami led the group to another pair of wooden doors. She was about to knock when everyone heard crying coming from the other side. Nanami shook her head and said, "Not again…"

"What happened this time? Was it the paperwork?" Morina asked.

"Yes but something else happened. It was during her vacation." Ash and Morina leaned in closer and Nanami whispered something that everyone else couldn't hear. Ash and Morina winced at the news and Ash said, "Now that was horrible."

"Yes it was. Please wait here a moment." Nanami told them as she opened the door and the crying could be fully heard. It sounded like a little girl crying as Nanami slipped in closing the door behind her.

Everyone sat down in nearby seats which there were about twenty of them scattered in the room. Ash went over to Nanami's desk and picked up the top file, which said 'Pilot Operating System Profile'. He opened it and read, "Serene's pilots are using an updated version of Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module complex and General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver synthesis operating systems."

Everyone looked up and paid attention to what Ash was reading. Apparently he was reading out loud without realizing it, "Mayu Asuka, using a fine tuned coordinator OS. Elena Sumire, using a fine tuned coordinator OS. Synar Menard, using a fine tuned natural OS designed for long range combat. Antino Menard, using a fine tuned natural OS designed for melee combat with mid range support. Silenna Canter, using a fine tuned natural OS. Luri Thodorn, using a fine tuned coordinator OS. Kazuki Himori, using a fine tuned natural OS. Asagi Caldwell, using a fine tuned upgraded natural OS. Flay Allster, using a fine tuned natural OS applied with experimental systems. Juri Wu Nien, using a fine tuned upgraded natural OS. Mayura Labatt, using a fine tuned upgraded natural OS. Geez, reading all of that really hurts."

Morina poked his shoulder and he looked up. When he saw everyone stare at him he said, "Oh crap, was I reading out loud again? Shoot, I thought I had that problem fixed already. Sorry about that you guys; it was a bad habit I had back when I was a kid. It used to get me in trouble sometimes too before Aunt Nana _helped_ me with it."

Everyone was wondering about the emphasis on the word helped when the door opened and Nanami's head popped out saying, "Okay you guys, all of you can come in now."

They all got up and noticed that the crying had stopped and Nanami opened the doors for them. When they entered they found a woman with long brown hair tending to a girl with pale pink shoulder-length hair with brown roots and green eyes in a business suit. The girl looked like she was in her preteens being a bit taller than Elena by a few centimeters. Everyone looked at the president's seat only to find it empty. Everyone except Ash and Morina looked around. They knew that they were looking for President Mayumi. All the first-timers did. The smart ones figured it out while others, well let's just say that they're in for a surprise.

Apparently they couldn't figure it out and Antino said, "Where's the president? Not to mention the girl, is she the president's daughter or something?"

The girl looked angry and she walked over to Antino, standing in front of him. He looked at her and everyone saw that her eyes were a bit red. They could tell that she was the one that was crying earlier. He said, "What?"

In a flash the girl gave Antino a swift knee kick to his jewels, shocking him for a second then crashing to the ground holding his jewels in pain. All the males in the room winced as the girl walked back to the president's chair and sat in it. She said in a mature voice that surprised the first-timers, "Hello everyone. My name's Mayumi Hearton, and I'm the president of Celestial International."

Natarle and the pilots were dumbfounded, some of them even dropping their jaws in disbelief. Ash on the other hand whispered to Morina and Nanami, "Oooh, Antino got his jewels handed to him by the prez~."

Both Morina and Nanami went into a fit of giggles as everyone managed to recover from the shock. Antino was on his knees and just about everyone knew that he won't forget this encounter for the rest of his life. Mayumi said in a sarcastic voice, "I just love the reactions of the members first meeting me. Oh, since you already met Nanami," Who by the way was still giggling with Morina, "I'll introduce you to my other secretary, Via Hibiki, although she goes by the name Nina Hikari these days."

That was when Asagi said, "You look familiar. I think I've seen you before Ms. Hibiki."

"Please just call me Via." Via said with a smile. Juri and Mayura thought the same and that's when it hit Asagi, "I remember now! You look just like the woman in the picture Cagalli showed us over half a year ago!"

Juri and Mayura looked at her and Juri said, "Yeah your right, she does look like the woman in that picture."

Via went into her pocket and pulled out a wallet. She opened it and asked, "Is this the picture?"

The three looked at the picture in the wallet and saw it was the exact same one of Via holding Kira and Cagalli as babies. The three were astounded and Mayura asked, "So what's your relation to Cagalli and Kira Yamato?"

Natarle and Flay were listening with interest since they knew both Kira and Cagalli. Morina and Nanami were in their own little world while Ash leaned against the wall looking out of a nearby window. Mayumi was listening as well while everyone else was just plain lost. Antino managed to get up on his feet but was still wincing every now and again.

Via told them a short story, starting off that she was Kira and Cagalli's biological mother. Then she went on about Mendel although she left a lot out, like the Ultimate Coordinator project saying that her late husband was just a researcher there. Then she went on that a few years after giving up Kira and Cagalli, she faked her own death with help of a Celestial agent and came to work here at Headquarters. She was promoted to being Mayumi's secretary right after Mayumi became president, along with Nanami.

After that Mayumi got everyone's attention and said, "Well, now that's out of the way let me just say that thanks to all of you Project GUNDAM is coming along really well. Also, I'm really glad that you're here with us Miss Natarle, for a while back then I was worried that the mission wouldn't go so well, considering the circumstances."

"Thank you for your concern President Mayumi. Honestly I was surprised when Celestial came for me actually. I never thought that an organization like Celestial considers me to be highly valuable." Natarle said.

"Yes, I was very impressed when I saw your credentials from the Earth Alliance files we 'borrowed'." Mayumi said, noting the emphasis on the word borrowed, "But enough of that, let's move on to the next item at hand."

Mayumi picked up a file on her desk and opened it. She said, "Normally I would have someone else do this but I wanted to meet the people who are going to protect the Serene." She cleared her throat and said, "I will now tell you your assigned mobile suits. Mayu Asuka, since you've already seen your mobile suit you already know that it's the GAT-X105E Strike E, the E standing for Enhanced. A one of a kind Striker Pack only for the Strike E, the AQM/E-X09S Noir Striker comes with in and when it's equipped, it turns into the Strike Noir. Elena Sumire, you are assigned the GAT-X303AA Rosso Aegis. This mobile suit can transform into a mobile armor mode and can fly, with the AA standing for 'Advanced Acceleration. Kazuki Himori, you are assigned the GAT-X207SR Nero Blitz, a mobile suit that specializes in stealth operations but is formidable nonetheless. Silenna Canter, your mobile suit is the GAT-X1022 Blu Duel. An all round purpose mobile suit; based on the original Duel with the Assault Shroud attached. Synar Menard, you will pilot the GAT-X103AP Verde Buster. An artillery type, this one should be right for you, considering your battle style. Antino Menard, you will be given the MBF-03 Claymore. The opposite of the Verde Buster this one specializes in melee combat, though it has an experimental beam rifle that can fire farther than current ones. Luri Thodorn you will be assigned the MBF-04 Barrett. This one specializes in mid and long range combat but is able to fight in close range should the need arise. All mobile suits have been tweaked to fly under the atmosphere so don't worry about that."

After all that Mayumi took a deep breather and said, "My, that sure was a mouthful." Then she went back into her professional mode and continued, "Flay Allster, you will continue to test pilot the GAT-X105 Strike that has the NIRUS prototype equipped. As for Asagi Caldwell, Juri Wu Nien, and Mayura Labatt, we'll have to discuss the matter more in private, along with Ash and Morina." The three girls were a bit puzzled by what Mayumi said as she went on, "That will be all for now and I must say, I'm glad to have all of you here at Celestial."

After that she seemed to slip back from her mature behavior as she said, "Okay people you can leave now. Nanami and Via will show you the way out. But Asagi, Juri, Mayura, Ash and Morina, please stay for a bit. We have to discuss a few things that I mentioned earlier."

With that everyone except those mentioned by Mayumi were escorted out by Via and Nanami but not before they heard Mayumi say, "Wow three people with 'Mayu' in their name in the same place, what are the chances of that?"

Ash and Morina shook their heads as everyone left with Via and Nanami leaving the other six in the room.

Outside Nanami said, "You guys can wait here while they talk. It shouldn't take too long, I hope." Nanami looked at the paperwork on her desk and said in despair, "Oh no, the paperwork is just too much, ever for the two of us."

That was when Antino said to his brother, "You know, I wonder how old Ms. Nanami is? She must be a lot older than she looks, being Ash and Morina's aunt."

Suddenly Antino felt his jewels hurt again as everyone else saw Nanami give Antino a deadly stare. Then she smiled with a dark aura around her and said, "You know Mr. Antino, it's not nice to talk about a woman's age so carelessly like that. It's a very sensitive subject."

All the women in the room nodded in agreement and Antino weakly said, "I'm sorry ma'am, it won't happen again."

Back in the president's room Mayumi was discussing with Asagi, Juri, and Mayura about their mobile suits. Apparently the organization had only assembled seven mobile suits for the Serene with the Strike being used as a test subject for NIRUS. Mayumi said, "We'll get in touch with Morgenroete about the suits you selected. Now to clarify, do you girls really want to use the Astray prototypes as your mobile suits?"

The three of them nodded in excitement. Apparently after seeing the Red and Gold Frames awhile ago the three always wanted to pilot a machine like them. Now they had their wish coming true in the form of the Sapphire Frame for Asagi, the Ruby Frame for Juri, and the Silver Frame for Mayura. Mayumi sighed, "Okay then, since we're using the prototypes as a base please have your customization designs in by the end of the week please. We need to have them done before the Serene's unveiling in March."

The three girls were quite excited at having their own mobile suits customized specifically for them. Mayumi added, "Oh don't forget, since the machines will be nuclear powered the choices are wide in selection but please try not to overdue it."

"Yes President Mayumi!" The three said together. Ash said, "Okay girls let's go see the others. I'm sure they're waiting for us in the reception room." Ash led them to the door and was about to open it when he said, "Hey Morina, you coming?"

"Yeah just have to talk to the prez about something." Morina said. Ash just shrugged and led the three girls out of the room. When the two of them were alone Morina said, "I heard about what happened last week. Care to talk about it?"

Suddenly Mayumi got up and ran to Morina crying, "Uwaa, it was horrible Morina. He was so mean about it!"

Both of them sat down on a nearby couch and said, "What happened?"

Mayumi was visibly still upset but was calm enough to explain, "He broke up with me on the last day of my vacation. It was so horrible, he said that things weren't working between us and he said…he said…"

"He said what?" Morina asked, guessing what she was going to say.

"He said that he wasn't a lolicon!" Mayumi shouted in agony. Morina sighed and thought, 'The same reason again?' Mayumi went on, "He said that it was embarrassing for him to be together in public! Can you believe it?!" She started to rant now, "I mean it's not my fault that I look the way I am! Our family always had this sort of thing, my grandmother stopped aging at the age of 8, my father stopped at the age of 11, and my big brother, oh he's one of the lucky ones, at the age of 17 he stopped. Dammit, he should be arrested, he's 35 and he's still going around hitting on high school girls! I'm only 27 for crying out loud!"

Morina sighed as she listened to her. This wasn't the first time this happened, Mayumi being dumped because of her looks. She was beautiful, not doubt about that, it was just that if someone saw her kissing a man the same age as her in public, the people would think that the man was a pedophile or something. It was rare for her to find someone who cared for her despite her looks and always took it hard when they broke up with her.

As Morina was comforting Mayumi she didn't realize that everyone except Ash, Natarle, Nanami, and Via was eavesdropping on them with their ears to the door. They didn't really need to since Mayumi's rant was quite loud for them to hear. Ash sighed and said, "Poor prez, being dumped like that again."

Nanami and Via shook their heads while Natarle looked sympathetic. Ash walked to the door leading to the elevators and said, "C'mon, we'd better get moving everyone. Morina's going to be there for a long time."

Everyone pulled their heads away from the door and walked out of the room. Ash said, "See you later Aunt Nana, and tell Morina we're heading back to the facility."

"Bye Ash, everyone take care." Nanami waved as the doors closed.

* * *

_February 5, C.E. 72 – Celestial's Headquarters_

A group of seven people were walking towards Celestial's Headquarters. The one 'leading' them was a blond that was well known to Orb, Cagalli Yula Attha. She said, "I wonder what the president wants? Celestial hasn't called a meeting between them and a member of the government since they first moved here."

"I don't think that it's that kind of meeting." Athrun told her, "If it was then we shouldn't be here."

"I agree, Celestial asked that Kira, Caridad, Andrew, Murrue, Athrun, and I accompany you. How they even knew I was here is a complete mystery." Lacus told Cagalli.

The others were silent but they too wondered what this was about. All they were told was that Celestial's president wanted to meet them. All of them had no connections with the organization so it was puzzling.

When they went inside they looked around seeing the large hall that split four ways. They went up to the main reception desk in the center and Cagalli said, "Excuse me, my group and I have a meeting with the president. My name is Cagalli Yula Attha."

The receptionist responded immediately, "Yes please take the middle elevator down the hall behind me. It will take you directly to President Mayumi's office."

"Thank you very much." Cagalli said before she led the group down the hall to the middle elevator. It opened and everyone went inside. The door was about to close when a voice said, "Please wait!"

At that both Kira and Athrun held the door open as they saw a woman with long black hair and brown eyes rushing towards them holding a stack of files under her arm. She went in and the door closed behind her. She said, "Thanks for waiting." When she saw the occupants, she continued, "Oh, you're the guests that the president said that were arriving today. I'm Nanami Sakuros, one of President Mayumi's secretaries."

"When she saw Athrun she said, "Luri? Wait no, the eyes and hair style is different. Sorry about that. You look similar to one of our pilots."

"It's no problem." Athrun replied. Everyone took note of how Luri sounded like a girl's name. Nanami thought, 'Him, there are a few faces I recognize, Cagalli Yula Attha's and Lacus Clyne's but the others I don't know. Although for some reason the woman with the long blue hair reminds me of Via for some reason.'

As the elevator continued up Kira couldn't help but notice what was written on the file he could see. 'Project GUNDAM?' He wondered as the elevator reached the top floor and the door opened. Nanami went out first and said, "Please follow me."

She led them through the hall and into the reception room were Nanami put the files on her desk and said, "Please don't mind the mess, things have been quite hectic these days, with some of Celestial's projects coming together." Nanami went to the door to the president's office and knocked saying, "President Mayumi, the guests you were waiting for have arrived."

When there was no response she called out, "Um, Ms. President? Are you there?" She opened the door and went through it. It was quiet for a few seconds then there was a scream from Nanami. Instinctively everyone rushed through the door to find Nanami beside a teenager that looked like she collapsed. They were about to rush over when Mayumi said, "Ugh, don't worry about it Nanami, I think I fell asleep for a second there."

Nanami helped Mayumi get up on her feet and when she saw the others she said, "Oh, they're here." She walked to her desk and leaned on the front. She said, "Welcome to Celestial everyone. I'm Mayumi Hearton, the president of Celestial International. It's an honor to meet all of you."

Everyone was quite surprised at this and Nanami thought, 'Well, at least they're taking it better that the last group.' She asked Mayumi, "Where's Nina?" Around guests they used the names Celestial had given to it's members like Via and Lenore, for security purposes.

"She's with Rin gathering the agricultural project reports." Mayumi told her.

Nanami cringed and said, "Oh no, not more paperwork! The ones from Project GUNDAM are piling up as they are!"

Everyone noticed the name of the project since it was Kira who first said it. Cagalli's eyes narrowed and asked, "What's Project GUNDAM?"

Mayumi noticed the look she was getting and said, "Please don't look at me like that Ms. Attha, I'll tell you. In short Project GUNDAM is a way Celestial is arming itself with weapons to defend itself against attacks from pirates and terrorists. The number of attacks has gone up over the years and things have been getting worse ever since the Second Battle of Yachin Due ended."

Mayumi picked up a remote on her desk and pressed a button. A nearby pair of bookshelves opened up revealing a flat screen T.V. She pressed another button and the picture of the M1 Astray High Maneuver Type appeared onscreen. Everyone was astounded since they heard reports that a couple of modified M1 Astrays bearing Celestial's crest had appeared and had taken Asagi, Juri, Mayura, and even a shuttle from the Dominion with them, with an Aile Dagger following them. Kira for one was a bit anxious since Flay was on that shuttle and hadn't seen her since. He hoped that he would run into her if he came to Celestial so they could have a talk.

Mayumi noticed their looks and said, "I assume you've seen our Astrays at the Second Battle of Yachin Due. This is the MBF-M1MC Astray High Maneuver Type, a product of Project GUNDAM. Basically we've taken the concept of the GINN High Maneuver Type and applied it to the Astray. Aside from the increased amount of thrusters we have taken the liberty of adding Phase Shift armor to the machines. Since we had a limited amount that we purchased from Morgenroete, it was a natural choice since the pirates and terrorists mostly use kinetic weapons. The weapons are mostly the same although if the pilot wants, we can hardwire either a Sword Striker Pack or a Launcher Striker Pack onto the Astray."

Cagalli felt kind of against if for some reason but was understood the situation. The Orb government had heard of Celestial space convoys were being attacked by pirates and most of their crews killed in the process. Her father offered his condolences and she heard that he had approved that Celestial was allowed to gather military arms on the pretense of self-defense.

That was when Nanami heard footsteps outside and said, "Excuse me everyone." She went over and got out of the room. Mayumi said, "As I was saying this is one of the products of Project GUNDAM. The project has other aspects, like-."

At this Mayumi was interrupted when Nanami walked back into the room and said, "Sorry for the interruption President Mayumi but Rin and Nina are here with the reports from the agricultural section."

"Okay, bring them in." Mayumi told her. She had a feeling that Via and Lenore were related to this group and she was about to find out.

When Via and Lenore came in everyone else looked at them and that's when it felt like time had stopped. Everyone except Mayumi, Nanami, and Murrue seemed frozen, with Murrue wondering what the heck was going on. Andrew was quite surprised to see Lenore standing before them, but he wasn't as shocked as the others who looked like they've seen ghosts. It was quiet for a moment until the silence was broken by Caridad.

"Via…? Lenore…?"

"Caridad…"

"Mother…?"

"Athrun…"

Lacus was took shocked to say anything as well as Kira and Cagalli. Seeing the woman in the picture that Cagalli received from her father and Kira from the lab at Mendel, the two were utterly astounded. Via looked at Kira and Cagalli and was happy seeing them again after all this time; she had only seen them in pictures that Celestial had taken when she had asked them to look for the two.

Then something happened, both Caridad and Athrun walked up to Via and Lenore, still disbelieving that the two were standing there before them. Then Caridad asked, "Via, is it really you?"

"Come on Cari, you know better than that." Via said to her.

Athrun too asked, "Mother, is it really you?"

"Yes Athrun, it's me."

There was a moment of silence then both Caridad and Athrun hugged Via and Lenore with tears in their eyes, overjoyed with seeing them alive. Everyone else was touched by the reunion as the four broke apart and Caridad and Lenore hugged each other. Via looked at Kira and Cagalli saying, "They sure have grown up well Cari, I'm glad you and Uzumi raised them well."

This, to Kira and Cagalli, confirmed that this was the woman that was in the picture with the two of them as babies. Via asked, "Do they know me Cari?"

Caridad nodded and whispered, "Yes, Uzumi handed Cagalli the picture of you holding them and Kira knows about Ulen's work."

This saddened Via as she didn't want any of her children to know the horrors that Ulen had caused because of that project. She slowly walked towards Kira and Cagalli and asked, "Kira, Cagalli, may I ask the two of you something?"

Kira asked, "What is it?" Via replied in a quiet voice, "May I hug the both of you?"

The two looked at each other then Kira said, "Of course you can."

"Thank you." Via said in a low voice as she hugged the both of them. Suddenly they heard quiet sobs coming from Via as she whispered, "I'm so happy that they two of you are alright."

This moved them and they hugged Via back warmly. While this was going on Lenore walked up to Lacus and the others saying, "It's good to see you again Miss Lacus, Mr. Waltfeld."

Lacus gave Lenore a hug and said, "It's good to see you too Mrs. Zala. Believe me when I say it's a miracle that you're alive."

Andrew nodded and Athrun said, "Mother, about Father…"

"I know what happened to him dear, and I know one of the causes in his change was me. I wanted to go back up there but as things stood, it was too risky for me to go back to the PLANTs." Lenore told them.

Then Via let go of Kira and Cagalli and both Via and Lenore introduced themselves to Murrue. She was a bit flustered and said, "I'm Murrue Ramius, former captain of the Archangel."

The two were amazed since the Archangel was one of the ships they've heard about that helped end the battle between the two forces at Jachin Due. Murrue covered her mouth since she didn't mean to mention that she was the Archangel's captain. Meanwhile both Mayumi and Nanami were watching them and Mayumi said, "I hate to interrupt but could we get back onto topic?"

Everyone looked back at Mayumi and she said, "Well, since it's been so long why don't you take Via, Lenore, and Caridad out for fun around town Nanami? I'll take care of everyone else."

"Okay Mayumi. Could you three follow me?" She led the three to a wall and when she pressed something on the nearby painting the wall opened up, revealing a huge closet of clothes. She ushered them in and said, "We'll dress up for the occasion. I have some great ideas for all of you."

The door closed as everyone got curious. Then Mayumi got their attention and said, "Since I called all of you here I want to show you around Celestial's underground facility under Onogoro. I want your input on the mobile suits and our new ship. Also there's a few people I want you to meet there Ms. Murrue."

That was when everyone heard squeals and shouts coming from the closet. Everyone turned to the noise and both Kira and Athrun wondered what the heck was going on in there. In all their time spent with them they have never heard their mothers squeal like that. Then the door opened and all four ladies came out. What they were wearing surprised the heck out of them.

The four were wearing clothes that people would normally find high school or college girls wearing. What was even more shocking was that the clothes seem to match perfectly with their looks. Andrew, Murrue, and Lacus were mildly shocked, Cagalli looked like she was hit in the head with a hammer, and Kira and Athrun looked like their eyes were popping out of their sockets as they stared at them while Mayumi snorted at their reaction. All of them except Nanami got embarrassed and turned their eyes away from them. Nanami, who seemed the most natural that she could pass for Ash and Morina's sister, said, "Okay ladies, it's time to go out for some fun!"

She dragged the three out of the room leaving everyone else there. Mayumi cleared her throat and said, "Well, I guess we'll go too. Please follow me everyone."

Mayumi got out of her chair and walked towards the door. They noticed that she was at least a foot shorter than Kira and normally this would be surprising but they were surprised so much today that it didn't faze them.

They followed Mayumi out of the office to the elevator but to Mayumi's annoyance Nanami and her group were using it to get to the lobby. She said, "Tch, I bet that she wants to show off as usual.

Everyone exchanged looks as Mayumi said, "I guess we'll have to wait a while, unless you guys want to take the stairs?"

By the look everyone was giving she assumed that was a 'no' and with good reason. Celestial HQ had twenty floors in total and they were on the top floor. Even if going down was easier than going up by a long shot, if anyone went down all twenty flights of stairs, they would be very tired. So they waited for the elevator to come back up.

That was when Mayumi's cell phone rang. She answered it saying, "President Mayumi speaking."

"This is Natalie, are the guests with you?" Natalie's voice asked from the phone.

"Yes they are. Why, is something wrong?" Mayumi asked, wondering what this was about.

"No, it's nothing serious, just some of the bridge members of the Serene acting out a scene from a show." Suddenly there was a loud female voice which made her pull her phone away from her ear, "No, I won't let you have her!"

That seemed to grab everyone's attention as a male voice shouted, "We aren't taking her away from you! Just shifting command-!"

"NO! You're all going to take her away from me! This ship is my baby and I'm not going to let you have her, even if it means blowing her up!" The female voice sounded hysterical over the phone. Everyone was wondering what the heck was going on as Natalie's voice came back on, "Yeah, it's something like that. So don't let them onto the Serene until its all clear, okay?"

"Sure Natalie." Mayumi said and just as she was about to turn off her cell phone a loud shout came out, "NO! Get away from me! Don't take my baby away from me!"

As Mayumi turned off her cell Andrew asked, "What was that all about?"

"Just the bridge crew of the Serene fooling around." Mayumi replied as the elevator door opened and they went in. Everyone thought that it sounded a bit extreme for it to be just playing around.

* * *

_Onogoro Island, Celestial's underground facility_

A few hours after they arrived, Mayumi had shown the group around some of the facility but were coming up to the main event: the Serene's hanger. When they entered they were amazed at how it looked like the Archangel except for a few noticeable changes like the size and color of the ship. She went on to explain the Serene's specs and that was when Natalie came up to them coming from the Serene. Mayumi stopped in the middle of her speech and said, "Oh, Natalie, is it already over?"

"Yeah, it was funny; the captain was thoroughly shocked when she walked in." Natalie replied. Then Mayumi turned to the group and said, "People, this is Professor Natalie Kino, head of the technological division and the Nanotech Integrated Repair and Upgrade System project, or NIRUS for short."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Natalie said as she bowed in respect. Then she told Mayumi, "The captain, one of the bridge officers, and one of our pilots are coming down to see you. When they heard about the guests they wanted to meet them as soon as that 'thing' was finished."

"I see, well I guess we'll just watch the mobile suits being loaded up then." Mayumi said. They saw, to their surprise except for Mayumi and Natalie, two mobile suits that they recognized being loaded up into the Serene, the Justice and Freedom.

They all looked at Mayumi and Natalie for an explanation and Mayumi sighed saying, "Ok, I can see that you want us to explain. You see, we have some Celestial members that have moved to the PLANTs and are in the Integrated Technological Bureau. In all honesty, we still don't understand why the data for the five ZGMF-X machines and NJC were given to us. All we could do now is use the power given to us to protect ourselves and the organization. Oh yes, in case your wondering, all the machines that are outfitted with NJCs are protected by a program that makes them fry out beyond repair or recognition if the machine is captured. So don't worry about it falling into terrorist hands. Also the Justice and Freedom are going to be used only as a last resort so if things go well, they will never have to be deployed."

That explanation satisfied the group as three people walked up to them: Natarle, Flay, and Marianne. Natarle said, "Miss President."

"Oh you three are here, good. I think you might know the people I'm with so why don't you all reacquaint yourselves." Mayumi said.

It was about the same reaction went seeing Via and Lenore earlier but it was between Murrue, Natarle, and Marianne and Kira and Flay. All of them whispered each other's names and both Murrue and Kira were dumbfounded to say the least, but Kira was less surprised since he knew that she was taken away by people from Celestial. Then Murrue walked up to Natarle and Marianne saying, "Natarle, is it really you?"

"Yes Murrue." Natarle said with a smile. Then Murrue turned to Marianne, "Marianne…?"

"Jeez cousin, you look like you've seen a ghost." Marianne said in an amused tone.

Suddenly she hugged the both of them and said, "I thought the two of you were dead!"

"Well actually you've already seen me escape from the Dominion." Natarle said as she let the two go. Murrue was a bit confused until Natarle said, "I was in that Aile Dagger that destroyed the Dominion."

That was when Murrue remembered what happened back then and she asked, "But that wasn't you piloting it, right?"

"Yeah, actually it was an agent of Celestial that piloted it. He got angry after he saw what happened and fired at the bridge." Natarle said. Then she turned to Andrew, held out her hand and said, "Mr. Waltfeld, it's a pleasure to meet you, not as enemies for a change."

"Same here." Andrew said as they shook hands. Mayumi watched with Natalie, Lacus, Athrun, and Cagalli seeing Murrue, Natarle, Andrew, and Marianne talking together and what looked like Kira and Flay clearing things up with each other. Lacus looked concerned but Mayumi put her hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry about them Miss Lacus, all Flay's going to do is apologize to Mr. Yamato. She may not show it but she's become very dedicated to her work here."

Lacus didn't say anything as everyone got together and Mayumi asked Natalie, "Where are Ash and Morina?"

"They're in the simulation room training the other pilots. The pilots are still practicing getting used to the new machines." Natalie replied.

"Okay then, that's where we're going next," Mayumi said and with that she started to lead the group, with the addition of Natalie, Marianne, and Flay.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, simulation room_

Ash and Morina were with Asagi, Juri, and Mayura watching the progress between the other pilots using simulated versions of their mobile suits. They were doing quite well as they handled wave after wave of enemies with accurate disabling precision, since they were simulating a fight between them and ZAFT.

"Is this really necessary?" Asagi asked, "I mean, it's not like Celestial will become an enemy of either the Earth Alliance or ZAFT right?"

"Anything's possible; don't forget what happened to Orb." Ash said, "They were neutral but the Earth Alliance attacked anyway. Not to mention either side might attack us over a misunderstanding."

"Please don't forget girls," Morina started, "that we are a humanitarian organization. We only have these mobile weapons for self-defense purposes only. Pirates and terrorists can go to hell for all I care but if we kill pilots of either side of the militaries, things will get ugly."

The three girls understood what the two were talking about. That's when Mayumi and the others came in. She said, "Here are the two responsible for training our pilots as well as being the best in Celestial, Ash and Morina Sakuros."

Morina turned to the group and said, "Hi." Ash was about to do the same thing but then he said, "Incoming enemies from the southwest! Take them out!"

"Roger that." Mayu's voice replied. In the control room Ash said, "Sorry about that. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"Miss Cagalli." Asagi said as Juri and Mayura noticed Cagalli in the room.

"So this is where you three ended up." Cagalli said with an interested look. Back then she wasn't very happy about Celestial taking three of their Astray pilots away from the battlefield, especially one as important as the Second Battle of Jachin Due. In time and a bit of explaining to Morgenroete, the issue was sorted out. Kira and Athrun had their eyes set on the monitor showing the battle between Mayu and her team and what looked like ZAFT. Kira was very interested in the battle since they saw that they were disabling the mobile suits instead of outright destroying them.

That was when all six guests noticed the forms of five of the seven mobile suits were similar to the G-weapons that the Atlantic Federation had developed. Mayumi noticed their expressions and explained, "It's what you think people. Five of those mobile suits are upgraded versions of the Atlantic Federation's G-Weapons. The other two are mobile suits created with the cooperation with Morgenroete before the attack, the MBF-03 Claymore and MBF-04 Barrett."

They understood as the simulation just finished. Then Morina spoke into the microphone saying, "Okay pilots, that's all for today. Come to the control room and introduce yourselves to our guests."

"Yes Morina." All of them replied. The seven of them got out of their modules and made their way to the control room. Mayumi ushered her group to the side as Mayu and the others came in. All the guests were surprised at how young the pilots were; they especially looked at Elena as they saw that she was no older than eleven. They lined up in front of them, wondering what was going on.

Before anyone could say anything Morina stepped up and said, "From the looks on your faces I can see that our pilots shocked you. Let me tell you now that all of them became pilots voluntarily so there's nothing to worry about."

Then Morina introduced them, "Now from left to right they are Antino Menard, pilot of the MBF-03 Claymore. Synar Menard, pilot of the GAT-X103AP Verde Buster, Silenna Canter, pilot of the GAT-X1022 Blu Duel, Luri Thodorn, pilot of the MBF-04 Barrett. Kazuki Himori, pilot of the GAT-X207SR Nero Blitz. Elena Sumire, pilot of the GAT-X303AA Rosso Aegis. And last but not least, Mayu Asuka, pilot of the GAT-X105E Strike E. Since they are our special pilots please don't mention them under any circumstances please."

They all bowed towards the group. Kira, Athrun, Lacus, and Cagalli however were looking at Luri while she was doing the same to Athrun. Aside from Luri's eye color that was the same as Cagalli, both Luri and Athrun had the same hair color. Despite Luri's hair being longer if she styled it like Athrun's they would resemble each other. This was a bit shocking and everyone in the room noticed this.

Mayumi broke the silence and said, "Well now that's done let me introduce our guests. They are Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, Lacus Clyne, Cagalli Yula Attha, Murrue Ramius, and Andrew Waltfeld. Kira and Athrun are the former pilots of the Freedom and Justice respectively."

All of them were surprised since they never forgot their 'encounter' with the Freedom during training. Antino was about to say something but Synar nudged his side and gave him a look that kept Antino silent. Then Mayumi got an idea and said, "I know, why don't we have Kira and Athrun have a sparring match?"

Everyone looked at her and she said, "I want to see how these two handle the simulator modules. Could you two please do this?" Mayumi turned to Kira and Athrun asking them.

They looked hesitant but when Mayumi put on her puppy dog eyes look the two broke down and both Kira and Athrun said, "Okay."

Mayumi said happily, "Okay then, could you two please head for the two closest modules while Ash uploads the data." When Kira and Athrun both left all the pilots were excited to see a match between two aces, especially ones that helped end the battle at Jachin Due. Even Lacus, Cagalli, Murrue, and Andrew were interested; they've never seen the two of them spar against one another before.

When the two got into their respective modules Morina said, "Okay you two, Ash just uploaded the data for the two mobile suits you each piloted, the Justice and Freedom. When you two are finished making your adjustments we can begin."

On the monitor it showed a base with the Justice and Freedom standing from one another. Then Athrun radioed in saying, "I'm all done."

"Same here." Kira called in. Ash said, "Okay, the objective is simple. You win when you completely disable your opponent's mobile suit. You may begin now!"

Suddenly both mobile suits took off into the air. They looked like they were going around in circles around the base eyeing each other. Suddenly the Freedom took out it's Lupus beam rifle and took a shot at the Justice. The Justice dodged it and took out it's own rifle and started shooting.

Everyone watched as the fighting got more intense. After five minutes the two were still at it. Now they were engaging each other in melee combat with their beam sabers. When they broke apart everyone saw the damage they did to each other.

The Justice had lost parts of it's Fatum sub-flight lifter and it's left leg. The Freedom lost two wings and it's left Xiphas rail cannon. Both mechs had various burns on their mechs from all the hairline dodges from beam shots and beam saber slashes. Now everyone had their eyes glued to the screen as they watched Justice throw a beam boomerang and charge at Freedom straight after.

The Freedom dodged the boomerang but couldn't evade the Justice on time so it blocked the beam saber with it's shield. Then the Freedom took that chance to push back the Justice and kick away it's shield before getting out of the way of the returning boomerang. The Justice recovered from the shock as it caught it's boomerang and turned itself to face the Freedom.

In their modules both Kira and Athrun were panting from the exhaustion that they pushed themselves through. Both of them grinned as they continued to attack each other.

Another five minutes later the two mobile suits were in worse condition with the Justice having lost it's shield arm and both boomerangs. The Freedom lost both legs and it's other rail cannon. Both mechs lost their beam rifles and now had gashes in various places, everyone was amazed that they could still keep going in the condition they're in.

The two went in for another charge and what happened next surprised them. Both had their beam sabers out and the swiped at each other dodging each other's slashes. Suddenly the Justice made a stab at the Freedom's head while the Freedom slashed horizontally at the Justice's neck. The result was both mechs losing their heads and their camera visions for that matter. Despite this both went for another charge before their backup cameras came on.

What happened was that the two mechs crashed into each other destroying their backup cameras and sending both crashing to the ground. On the ground both their phase shift armor powered down and Ash said, "Well, I guess that's a tie. From what I can see the impact knocked their reactors offline and they won't be going back on anytime soon." Everyone had their eyes wide open at the result until they heard laughing coming from Kira and Athrun from their modules.

Mayu thought to herself, 'Wow, those two are in a completely different league than us.' All the other pilots had similar thoughts.

After that Cagalli jumped into a module and all three of them did a few simulation missions together. Even Lacus jumped into one to try it out. At the end of the day Mayumi escorted everyone back to Celestial HQ and saw them off.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, Morina's room_

Morina was looking over today's battle data of the pilots and saw that they were getting accustomed to their machines. Asagi, Juri, and Mayura's mobile suits were almost finished and she scheduled them to train with the others. Then she looked over the battle data between the Justice and Freedom. She thought, 'I'm glad all battle data's been recorded. I bet this was what Mayumi was gunning for when she asked them.'

Then Morina started working on integrating the data into the simulator mainframe, more specifically into the Justice and Freedom's AI simulation file.

'This will help tremendously. Using this to train the pilots will be a valuable asset in developing their skills.' Morina thought. She continued to work on it until late in the night when she switched off her computer and turned in.


	5. Theft

Chapter 5 – Theft

Celestial International unveiled the Serene a week before the signing of the Junius treaty was to be signed. Both the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs have agreed to let Celestial build a small portion of private military force in their organization after giving their reasons for the buildup. They agreed on the condition that they have no more than five ships like the Serene and fifty mobile suits, which Celestial had no problem complying with.

After the signing Celestial dispatched people all around the war torn areas, helping with reconstruction and helping the victims. The people saw Celestial as a godsend and a number of orphans and other people with nowhere else to go ended up joining as a result.

Mayu and the others didn't have to go into combat that much since after one attack by the pirate gangs, they rarely came by again and eventually the Serene became the only ship Celestial had operational in space. The Relief and Refugee were being replaced by ships like the Serene and being named after the two. Two more ships, the Reprieve and Advent, were being built and with help from an organization called Terminal, things have been proceeding smoothly. The other space convoy ships were being stored on Earth in Orb and Celestial's colony, Heaven's Reprieve.

Both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT got used to Celestial's military existence since they haven't meant any harm to either side during their missions. This gave Celestial a huge sigh of relief since both sides were pressuring them about the issue.

As for Mayu, she and the others were given tutoring lessons by former teachers who were currently members of Celestial. They were taught in between missions and by January C.E. 73, they learned enough to be considered high school graduates. This was a requirement from Mayumi since Celestial members needed to be educated. Normally they would've been sent to a school in Orb but certain circumstances prevented that.

Kira, Athrun, Lacus, and Cagalli became more familiar with Celestial, Athrun in particular since he visited his mother a few times every month. Mayu and the others became friends with them after repeated visits both ways. Celestial helps Reverend Malchio with his orphanage so everyone got to know one another that way. Murrue also kept contact with Natarle and Marianne through Morgenroete since she started working there; the company was helping Celestial with the M1 Astray HM Types and it's customizations.

Now a new Chairman was elected to the PLANTs, Gilbert Durandal, and he authorized the building of Armory One at L4, near Celestial's colony. This raised a few eyebrows among the council and Mayumi herself wondered what the reason was but Durandal assured everyone that it was just a coincidence and hoped that Celestial wouldn't mind being neighbors and all. It sounded genuine to Mayumi but she couldn't help but feel that something was off for some reason. So she asked if she could send representatives to the colony as a friendly gesture of sorts.

After some time Durandal agreed to it and by another odd coincidence, Cagalli and Athrun would be going to the colony at the same time. Mayumi couldn't help but feel that that was a coincidence though…

* * *

_October 2, C.E. 73 – Armory One, business district_

Ash and Mayu were walking along shops killing time before they meet up with Cagalli and Athrun. Ash was going as himself but Mayu was under a disguise and going by the name Yuna Aska. Ash laughed when he found that her last name was very 'original'. The reason for this was to keep the pilot names confidential among the two sides.

She also had her looks changed as well. Her eyes were now green and her long brown hair was tied up in a heightened ponytail. Mayu has grown up over the few years she spent with Celestial. She was a foot taller than she previously was and her body was more mature than it used to, thanks to her being a coordinator. Mayu became a beautiful young woman that she kept turning heads back at Celestial. Now she was doing that here as well as men that they passed kept taking second glances at her and were jealous of Ash who was walking beside her.

Mayu felt slightly embarrassed and Ash felt the hostility whispering, "Man the men here are quite vicious. They must be jealous that I have such a beautiful woman here beside me."

Mayu blushed at his comment. During the time they've worked together Mayu developed a small crush on Ash despite the five year age difference. She saw him as kind yet strong, despite being a natural. He had his bad points, like the time he used her as a shield against Morina during an argument. But despite this she found him quite interesting, not to mention she saw Morina as her big sister, like the other pilots. Elena felt like a little sister that needed protecting and she and the other pilots felt the same way.

While they were walking Mayu looked at one of the shops and she wasn't watching where she was going. Suddenly she bumped into someone and they both almost fell over. Mayu looked at the person and was about to apologize when she saw who she bumped into, her brother Shinn.

Shinn was also surprised and when he looked at her Shinn thought that he was looking at his sister for a moment. Then he noticed the differences and both realized that Shinn was touching Mayu's chest. She pulled away and ran off looking scandalized. Ash saw her run away and he ran after her.

Shinn was standing there looking stunned and he thought, 'What was that about?'

He continued walking and went over what just happened, 'That girl, she looked like Mayu.' Shinn shook his head and thought, 'No, she's dead along with my parents.'

Meanwhile Ash was trying to talk to Mayu, "Hey Yuna, what's wrong." When she didn't respond he grabbed her shoulder gently. She responded to that and when Ash looked at her he saw tears in her eyes. Ash guided her to a secluded place in a nearby park and asked softly, "What's wrong Mayu?"

Mayu wiped her tears and said, "That was my big brother."

Ash raised an eyebrow and asked, "The guy who groped you?"

"Yeah." Mayu nodded. A moment later Ash's words sunk in and she remembered what happened. She was slightly disturbed at what happened but decided that it was an accident, since Mayu had a feeling that Shinn didn't do that on purpose. She felt better and Ash said, "Let's get going Ma-, I mean Yuna. We still have an hour before Cagalli arrives."

"Okay." Mayu was back to her old self and they continued walking. Ash couldn't help but remember that the guy Mayu said was her brother Shinn had a ZAFT insignia in the inside of his duffel bag. There was a rule stating that if any member of Celestial had a family member in any military, then the member must keep the fact that they work for Celestial a secret if possible. One example is keeping an alias and disguise when confronting any military. If ZAFT found out that Mayu was one of their pilots it might spell trouble for them. 'I hope she can keep her identity a secret. I know that she wants to tell him but considering what happened last time, we'll wait until the right time.'

* * *

_Spaceport, one hour later_

Ash and Mayu were at the spaceport waiting for Cagalli and Athrun to show up. Mayu was busy watching the workers go by while Ash was leaning against the wall and had his eyes closed. A few minutes later the doors opened and Cagalli and Athrun came through. Both turned and looked up as the two approached. They met up with Cagalli saying, "Oh you two are here already."

Ash nodded his head and said, "Let's get going, I'm sure the Chairman's waiting."

The four of them floated down the hallway together and Athrun asked Cagalli, "Don't tell me that's all you're wearing. Shouldn't you have at least brought a dress for something like this?"

Cagalli looked at him and said, "What do you mean by that? Isn't what I'm wearing good enough?"

Athrun was about to say something but Ash interrupted saying, "What she's wearing is fine Alex. Ca-, I mean, Representative Attha doesn't need a dress to look professional you know."

"Thank you Ash, and I don't mind if you call me Cagalli." Cagalli said to him.

"Well then, let's hope that the meeting goes well Cagalli." Ash replied.

Both Athrun and Mayu looked at each other as they continued moving. They passed the registration section and Athrun noticed three particular people waiting there. He stared at the blonde girl with purple eyes and Ash noticed asking, "Is something the matter Alex?"

Athrun shook his head and said, "No, it's nothing."

On the elevator Cagalli was talking about the ceremony of launching ZAFT's new warship. Meanwhile Ash was thinking about why they were allowed to come to Armory One now. Celestial made the request over three months ago and it was only now that they were allowed a visit. This made Mayumi quite suspicious and found Durandal to be somewhat uncomfortable, saying that he gave off the feeling like he was hiding something. Ash and Morina laughed with Nanami saying that she was just paranoid.

Suddenly a view of the scenery appeared and Ash whistled saying, "Damn, that's one heck of a beautiful scenery."

Everyone on the elevator smiled at Ash's comment as they thought the same thing.

* * *

_Armory One – Durandal's office_

The four of them were escorted to Durandal's temporary office and when the door opened Durandal said, "Ah, the guests have arrived."

Ash, Mayu, Cagalli, and Athrun walked through as Durandal said, "Princess, Agent Sakuros, it's so good of you to see you here."

Cagalli walked up to Durandal and shook his hand saying, "Thank you for fitting us into your busy schedule Chairman."

"Yes, thank you very much." Ash said as he also shook his hand.

The three of them took their seats as everyone else filed in. Ash and Cagalli were sitting opposite of Durandal and he asked, "Now, whose issue should I address first?"

Ash said, "I'll let Representative Attha go first. Her issue is much more pressing than Celestial's."

When Cagalli started talking about the issue about ZAFT using technology and human resources from Orb Ash watched the conversation between the two. Now that he was facing Durandal he couldn't help but feel that there's something more behind him. He laughed when Mayumi was being paranoid but now he wasn't too sure. He thought, 'There's something in his eyes that I can't figure out…'

Ash looked at Athrun and Mayu and saw that Athrun looked very professional while Mayu yawned a bit. She looked plain bored and Ash couldn't blame her. He too wasn't used to this kind of engagement. Ash was trained as a soldier and he found that the political scene was just too uncomfortable. He wondered why Mayumi sent him instead of Morina, she had a much better grasp at politics than him.

Suddenly Durandal turned to Ash and said, "So, what is Celestial's issue with Armory One Agent Sakuros?"

"Eh?" Ash was caught completely off guard which made Mayu, Athrun, and a few others giggle a bit. He quickly regained his composure and said, "Oh, yes. President Hearton was concerned about you building Armory One here at L4. It seems certain people are wondering why you have decided to choose this sector to build this PLANT, especially with Celestial's colony, Heaven's Reprieve nearby."

Durandal raised an eyebrow and said, "I assure you that it's just a coincidence that both colonies are in this sector. Most of the council decided on this and again, I assure you that ZAFT will not interrupt Celestial's activities in the area in any way Agent Sakuros."

Then Durandal got up and said, "Now, why don't I take the two of you on a tour of Armory One."

* * *

_Heaven's Reprieve – Serene's harbor_

Meanwhile Morina was making all the pilots except Elena do loading work, making most of them drive trucks with cargo boxes onto the Serene. Two pilots in particular, Antino and Silenna, were not very happy with the development.

"Damn, this is so boring! Why are we doing this anyway?" Antino complained.

"Yeah, I'd rather be training than doing this."

Synar came by and shouted, "Hey you two quit slaking. If we get this finished quick enough then Morina will let us off for some free time in Reprieve."

This got the two's attention and that motivated them to get to work again. Meanwhile Morina and Elena were with Natarle discussing the installation of an improved version of Trans-Phase Armor that the techs in the colony developed.

"So the TP Armor is 1.5 times stronger than the old version and only uses 20% more power, is that right?" Natarle asked.

"Yes and it's also able to withstand attacks from multiple vectors as well, but not by much. Constant attacks from multiple vectors can still break through the TP Armor." Morina explained to her.

"I see, Marianne, upgrade the ship's OS for the new TP Armor." Natarle ordered.

"Yes captain." Marianne replied and started working on it.

Morina sighed and looked at Elena. She was a lot taller now yet was still the shortest among the pilots. She grew her green hair out and was quite cute for a girl of her age. She wore Celestial's uniform with pride and was more outgoing, yet she still lacked the ability to talk due to her trauma.

Natarle changed the subject and asked, "So, is Ash meeting this Chairman Durandal today?"

"Yes, he is." Morina replied, "Mayumi chose him to meet with the Chairman with Mayu as his aide going under the name Yuna Aska."

"Mayu's going under a different name for security purposes right?" Natarle asked.

"Yes, all our pilots' identities are kept secret. All of them have a different alias for confronting either ZAFT or the Earth Forces. The only exception is me and my brother due to circumstances during the war." Morina told her.

Natarle wondered about that when Marianne said, "The OS update is complete ma'am."

"Good. What's the status on the cargo loading?" Natarle asked.

"It's 75% complete ma'am." Yuuki replied, "Estimated time of completion is about three hours. Also, installation of the new thrusters has just started and is estimated to be completed around the same time."

Natarle nodded as Morina said, "Well then, since we're done here we'll check on the others. Coming Elena?"

Elena nodded as the two left the bridge on their way to meet the other pilots. Morina thought, 'I wonder though, why did Mayumi send Ash instead of me to meet Chairman Durandal?'

* * *

_Orb Union - Celestial's HQ, presidential office_

Mayumi was going through a few files when she noticed one file in particular. She looked at it and it had information telling her who she sent to meet with Durandal. She called in Nanami and she walked in saying, "Is something the matter Mayumi?"

"Come take a look at this for a moment." Mayumi beckoned her over to her side and she showed Nanami what was on the paper. She asked, "Is this right?"

"Yes it is Mayumi. May I add that I was a bit surprised at your decision. Normally you would have sent Morina on those types of missions." Nanami said.

Mayumi scratched her head and said, "Okay then, you may go now." As Nanami left she said, "I've must've made a mistake then. Oh well, I hope Ash can manage. He is a fully trained Agent and veteran, after all…"

* * *

_Armory One – Military district, hanger area_

Durandal and a couple of guards were showing the four of them around the military base, showing them all of ZAFT's mobile weapons, including a few retrofitted ones. He was talking to Cagalli about herself and Orb in particular. Ash and Mayu looked around noticing a new model of mobile suits in some of the hangers.

They stopped in front of one of the hangers and as they talked Athrun noticed the new mobile suit model, the ZGMF-1000 ZAKU. They continued talking until Durandal said, "We believe in the same noble ideals, but it is not possible to keep those ideals without power." This got Ash's attention and even Mayu got curious as to what he meant.

Durandal when on to say that Cagalli, in particular should know what he's talking about. Then Cagalli asked, "Chairman, could you please stop calling me 'Princess'?"

"My apologies Representative Attha." Durandal said as he bowed apologetically. Then they kept going as Durandal continued to talk to Cagalli about the technology issue. Ash couldn't help but feel that Durandal was pushing Cagalli around somewhat due to what he was saying. Mayu looked a bit worried that she just might run into Shinn her but she thought to herself, 'My big brother couldn't have joined ZAFT, could he?' This thought disturbed her a bit since she knew that Shinn wasn't the military type, he was too hot-blooded for that. But what Ash told her earlier still made her think.

* * *

_Flashback – Armory One, shopping district_

_ "What do you mean my big brother's joined ZAFT?!" Mayu shouted._

_ "Calm down, it's just that I saw a ZAFT insignia on the inside of your brother's duffel bag, probably from a uniform. I recognize it since Morina used to be in ZAFT." Ash explained._

_ Mayu was speechless but Ash said, "Don't worry about it. For all we know he might be holding it for someone else, a friend of his maybe." _

_ Mayu sure hoped that it was true as the two continued to walk down the street._

* * *

Present time

Cagalli suddenly stopped in front of Durandal and said, "But too much power will only invite another war!"

Durandal shook his head and said, "No, power is a necessity, there will always be conflict. The people from Celestial should know this very well."

He turned to Ash and Mayu and said, "You should know this very well Agent Sakuros. Celestial was forced to arm itself with mobile suits and armed battleships due to all the piracy and terrorism attacks against Celestial."

Ash had a serious look on his face as he didn't say anything as Durandal, Cagalli, and Athrun looked at him. Suddenly the alarm went off making everyone look up and wonder what the heck was going on. A few soldiers ran by saying, "It's coming from hanger six!"

Durandal tried to figure out what was going on when suddenly green beam shots tore through hanger six's door and pierced the adjacent hanger, causing it to explode. Everyone took cover and Ash grabbed Mayu throwing her down with him to shield her from the blast. From the wreckage came three of ZAFT's new prototypes, the ZGMF-X24S Chaos, ZGMF-X31S Abyss, and ZGMF-X88S Gaia. Ash and Mayu got up and saw the three prototypes. Ash said, "What the, are they Gundams?!"

"Gundams?!" Cagalli said, sounding shocked. Sure enough that was when they saw the Abyss blast one of hangers with it's plasma chest cannon. Ash took the initiative and said, "Chairman Durandal, requesting permission to commandeer one of your mobile suits."

Everyone around him looked surprised but Durandal said, "Permission granted Agent Sakuros." He shouted to one of the soldiers, "One of you take Agent Sakuros to hanger bay one. Hopefully the prototype there is still safe."

'Prototype?' Ash thought to himself. One of the soldiers said, "Please follow me sir."

Ash grabbed Mayu's hand and said, "I'm taking her with me."

The soldier didn't argue as they got into a jeep and the soldier drove off quickly. Durandal turned to the others and started giving orders.

A moment later they stopped in front of hanger bay one, which was still intact fortunately and they got out with the soldier saying, "One of the prototypes is stored here. There's no pilot for it so you can go ahead and take it."

"No pilot?!" Ash shouted but he took Mayu and followed the soldier inside. In the hanger bay there were no mobile suits except one. Ash got closed and saw that it too was a Gundam. The soldier said, "This is the ZGMF-X55S Halo. Please hurry and take it." The soldier ran out of the hanger bay as Ash and Mayu ran over to the mobile suit. The both of them hopped in and Ash took the pilot's seat. As he started it up he took out a flash drive and stuck it into a socket. The OS changed from the installed one to the one stored on the flash drive.

Mayu helped by looking over the specs and said, "This thing's like the Strike, except it equips things called Silhouette Packs. This one's already equipped with one called the Force Silhouette, it's like the Aile Pack Ash."

"Thanks for the info Mayu. Now, let's see what you can do Halo!" Ash said as he started up the machine.

Halo's eyes came alive as the mobile suit powered up it's Variable Phase Shift Armor. Mayu noticed that it had colors like the Strike except that some of the colors were in different places. Ash pressed the acceleration and he tore down the door to get out. The Halo flew into the air and it turned to face the three enemy mobile suits.

Ash saw a ZAKU engage the Gaia and he took out his beam rifle and aimed it at the Gaia. As it took out it's beam saber Stella noticed the incoming shot and dodge it shouting, "What the heck?" Halo landed right beside the ZAKU and Ash used a private frequency saying, "Are you alright pilot?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Athrun's voice said on the other side.

"Athrun?! What the heck are you doing in that mobile suit?" Ash shook his head and said, "Never mind, I'll distract this one while you get away." The Gaia lunged at Halo and Ash blocked the beam saber with his shield and shoved it back. Then the Chaos appeared from behind Athrun's ZAKU and it made a charge with it's beam saber. Athrun couldn't dodge fast enough and it took off part of the ZAKU's left arm. Both Auel and Sting noticed Halo and Sting said, "What is that, another prototype?"

"Who cares, let's just blow it up like the others!" Auel shouted as he fired upon Halo.

Ash could tell that they were in trouble as he dodged the shots. Normally if he was in his personal, or at least, a familiar machine he would have no trouble with these guys. But since this was a totally new machine he wasn't plain used to it, even if it was similar to the Strike. He said, "Mayu, you think you can take over? I have a copy of your personal OS on my flash drive."

Mayu didn't argue with him and said, "Sure." Ash dodged another slash and said, "Need to find an opening first."

Ash got one when Chaos was suddenly attacked from behind. It surprised Sting and Stella as the Core Splendor flew in. Ash took that chance to load up Mayu's custom OS and the two switched places. As everyone watched the Sword Impulse put itself together Mayu made a few tweaks to the OS to make sure it was suited for the Halo.

Then the Sword Impulse landed in front of the Halo and ZAKU with it's swords out in it's hands. As the Sword Impulse combined it's Excalibur swords together Ash pressed a button that somehow enabled a one way communication from the Impulse to the Halo. Suddenly Shinn's voice shouted, "Why is this happening?! Are you trying to start another one, another war?!"

Ash instantly cut the transmission but it already affected Mayu as she was shocked. She thought, 'No, it can't be…?'

Ash recognized the voice too as he saw what Mayu was thinking from the look on her face. He snapped her out of it by saying, "Mayu, I know you're shocked but if you don't snap out of it we won't make it!"

Mayu managed to refocus herself due to her training and said, "I'm sorry Ash, I was just shocked to find my brother piloting that ZAFT mobile suit. I'm fine now."

"Good, 'cause we need to stop those three now!" Ash shouted.

As Mayu got back into the game Ash thought, 'Who knew things could go wrong so quickly!'


	6. Impulse and Halo

Chapter 6 – Impulse and Halo

_Armory One – military base_

The base was now in shambles as the three stolen prototypes continued to battle the Impulse and Halo. Mayu was doing a lot better at piloting Halo than Ash was for some reason. Ash figured that since it was like the Strike Noir in some aspects she had a better feel how it worked. As the Impulse charged towards the Gaia Mayu asked, "Ash, why did you ask the Chairman for a mobile suit?"

As Halo dodged an incoming shot from the Abyss he replied, "Celestial's purpose is helping people. The soldiers and civilians here were being attacked out of the blue and I couldn't stand by and let more people get hurt."

Mayu felt a bit touched as she took out the Halo's rifle and started shooting at the Chaos that was coming for her. Ash noticed the ZAKU just standing there and he got Athrun back on the line shouting, "Athrun, stop gawking and move!"

This seemed to bring the two in the ZAKU back to their senses as Athrun shouted, "Right!" He turned and engaged the Chaos. Ash sighed and said, "That's not what I meant!"

Meanwhile Shinn was talking with the bridge crew of the Minerva about the theft. Talia Gladys said, "Now's not the time for that Shinn, you have your orders! And try to make contact with whoever's piloting the Halo!"

"Yes ma'am!" Meyrin said.

Inside Halo's cockpit a light flashed and Mayu said, "Ash I think someone's trying to contact us." She had to dodge another shot from the Chaos as she finished. As she returned fire Ash said, "Ignore them for now, we need to disable those machines first. Then we'll explain ourselves."

"Right!" Mayu said as she took out her beam saber and made a charge at the Chaos. Athrun saw Mayu blast towards the Chaos and he followed, beam tomahawk out. Sting dodged both of them at the same time and said, "Damn, first this one then that other one with the swords!" He tried scanning them and said, "There's not data on those two. Tch, take this!" He fired his beam rifle at the Halo but missed.

Abyss fired off a volley of shots at incoming DINNs and shot most of them down. Then as Auel turned his attention to the Impulse, Ash couldn't believe what was happening and said, "The heck, machines are being shot down left and right! Aren't these pilots supposed to be professionals or something?!"

"What the?!" Shinn shouted as the Abyss charged at him with it's scythe. The Impulse managed to dodge in time but the Gaia in mobile armor mode made another charge at it, causing it to block with one of it's Excalibur swords. Halo was busy shooting at the Chaos trying to take out it's limbs while the ZAKU backed it up. Suddenly there was rocking throughout the colony and Ash said, "The heck was that?!"

"It's an attack from the inside. I think the harbor's being attacked!" Athrun said over the line.

"Oh, just great, things just had to get worse!" Ash shouted over the line.

* * *

_L4 – Celestial's colony Heaven's Reprieve, Serene's hanger_

Morina was with the pilots after they finished with their part of the loading and was talking to them about the state of the ship, "Okay you guys, since installation of the new parts and the rest of the loading is going to take a few hours, all of you have free time to do what you want for an hour or so. Just to remind you guys that you need to be back on time, I don't want a repeat of last time where Luri, Silenna, and Kazuki were nearly left behind due to you-know-what."

Everyone smirked as she referred to the time a few months ago. When the Serene was about to depart the bridge crew were hailed by those in the control room. They said that Luri, Silenna, and Kazuki were with them. Natarle called Ash and Morina up to the bridge and Morina was less than pleased with them.

When the three were sent to the Serene by shuttle Morina and the others except Ash met up with them. Everyone was treated to a sight where Kazuki was dressed up as a girl, in what looked like a modernized Lolita outfit. He wore a short skirt that went down to his knees and a slightly frilled blouse complete with a short overcoat. The girls were giggling while the boys looked scandalized.

Morina demanded to know what was going on while holding back her own laughs. Kazuki was red with embarrassment and Luri pushed Silenna forward. She explained that Kazuki lost a bet with them and as a result, he had to dress up and take a guy out on a date. They made him ask a nearby Celestial member if he wanted to have lunch. The member agreed and as the two had lunch Luri and Silenna noticed that the member was completely smitten with Kazuki. Before they knew it, it was nearly time for the Serene to leave the colony. They grabbed Kazuki and drove off in a nearby cab, leaving the member stunned at what just happened. When the three reached the spaceport they found that the ship already left so they made their way to the control room. After that explanation everyone was trying real hard not to laugh and some even looked away to hide their laughter. This made Kazuki real edgy as he wanted to get out of the clothes ASAP.

That was when Ash came in eating a chocolate Pocky stick and when he saw Kazuki he asked, "Hey everyone, who's the new chick?"

This set Kazuki off and before everyone knew it, he was beating Ash mercilessly and without warning. It took Synar, Antino, and Morina to pry Kazuki off of Ash and later on, in the infirmary, Morina explained the situation. Ash apologized to Kazuki, who was in his regular uniform, and commented that his disguise was perfect.

Morina knew what they were thinking and added, "Oh yes, no more bets while in the colony people. If I hear one word of it, all of you are going to clean the ship from one end to the other."

Everyone gulped and said, "Yes ma'am!"

That was when Terence's voice called over the intercom, "Agent Morina, please report to the bridge immediately."

Morina grumbled and whispered, "What now?" She said to the pilots, "All of you are dismissed."

As everyone left Morina made her way to the Serene thinking, 'I wonder what the heck they want this time.'

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

About ten minutes later, Morina entered the bridge saying, "Okay, I'm here. What's the problem?"

Terence turned to face Morina said, "We just received a message from the observation satellite watching Armory One, Morina ma'am. It seems that it's under attack by unknown forces."

"What was that?!" Morina couldn't believe that Armory One was under attack. Ash and Mayu were there right now and became extremely worried for their safety. She asked, "Can they identify the attackers?"

"No ma'am," Terence replied, "Apparently the ship that's attacking doesn't match anything in the database. Although they say that the mobile suits they're attacking with apparently seem to be Dagger variants."

This made Morina suspicious that it was the Earth Forces attacking but kept it to herself. It was known to them that pirates also got their hands on some 105 Daggers during the war, but wondered why they were called Dagger variants. Instead she asked, "Natarle, when's the installation of the new thrusters going to be finished?"

Natarle replied, "Actually, shortly after you left we got a message from the technicians saying that they ran into a problem so it's going to take at least another six hours."

Morina couldn't believe what was happening. They were stuck here at Heaven's Reprieve unable to do anything. If she went out in the Justice it would raise only complications even if it did help. All she could do was hope that her brother and Mayu were alright.

Morina sighed in frustration and said, "Please tell me when the installation is done Natarle. I'm going to my quarters for some rest."

"Okay Morina." Natarle replied. Morina nodded and left the bridge. While she was walking images of Ash and Mayu lying in a pool of their own blood dead kept appearing in her mind. She shook them off and assured herself, 'They're going to be fine, they won't die that easily.'

* * *

_Armory One – military base_

Mayu and Ash got over the shock and Mayu made the Halo charge at the Gaia with it's beam saber. This made Stella dodge but Shinn followed up on that by throwing his Flash Edge beam boomerang causing the Gaia to raise it's shield and block it shouting, "Damn you!"

Shinn contacted the Minerva saying, "Captain, what's the deal on this other machine? It looks like the Impulse with the Force Silhouette."

Talia replied on the other end, "That's the ZGMF-X55S Halo. It's the prototype of the Impulse. Since it's fighting the stolen machines consider it friendly but if it attacks you or other ZAFT units disable it like the others."

"Roger that ma'am." Shinn replied. 'At least that prototype didn't fall into enemy hands, I think.' He continued to engage the Gaia while Mayu turned her attention to the Chaos. Sting was starting to get frustrated with the whole situation and said, "Damnit, we need to leave now!" He called out to Auel and Stella, "Hey Auel, Stella, we need to leave now!" Halo made a few swipes at Chaos but missed, "Tch, there were only supposed to be three of them!"

"Well, I guess Neo screwed up then." Auel said as he blasted incoming GuAIZs and DINNs. Then he turned his attention to the Impulse and said, "I guess we'll just have to take their heads as trophies then!"

The Chaos charged at the Halo and smashed into it, sending it crashing to the ground. Then Sting turned his attention to the Impulse as well as Auel. Athrun rushed over to the Halo and asked, "Hey Ash, are you guys alright?"

They heard Ash groaning and Mayu replied, "We're fine but I think Ash hit his head when we crashed. Blood's coming down from his forehead."

Ash assured them, "It's nothing serious. Let's just focus on stopping those three."

"Right." Mayu and Athrun replied. The next thing that happened was that the Impulse was being overwhelmed by the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss. The Impulse was pushed to the ground and Cagalli shouted, "Athrun, please help him!"

"Hold on then." Athrun boosted his ZAKU over with Ash shouting, "Wait a-! Damn, let's go Mayu.

Mayu nodded and brought the Halo back on it's feet. That's when she saw the damage done to the Halo. The bottom thruster was slightly damaged and both the bottom wings were snapped off. Regardless Mayu continued forward to help Athrun.

When they got there they saw the Abyss blast at the ZAKU, blowing it's shield off and sending it crashing into a nearby building. Ash shouted, "Mayu!" and Mayu replied, "Already on it!" She maneuvered Halo in front of the ZAKU just as the Chaos fired upon it. Halo blocked the shot and fired back with it's rifle. Meanwhile Ash called in asking, "Hey, are you two alright?"

"I'm fine but Cagalli's been injured." Athrun replied. Ash said, "What?! Tch, get out of here Athrun. We'll cover your escape." Suddenly a red flashing appeared in the Halo's cockpit and both Ash and Mayu saw that the battery was running low on power. He said, "On second thought, we'll come with you. Halo's running low on power." Suddenly the Chaos shot the Halo's rifle causing it to explode.

"Okay then." Athrun got his ZAKU out of there as Mayu used the Halo's shield to block the shots as she retreated with the ZAKU. Sting was about to pursue them saying, "Oh no you don't!" when suddenly beam shots were being fired down upon them. More GuAIZ Rs fired upon him forcing Sting to use his gunbarrels to take them out. He turned around but found the ZAKU and Halo nowhere in sight. He said, "Tch, that unknown mobile suit disappeared. Well whatever, as long as it doesn't come back."

A while later as the two were flying Halo's lower thruster blew out from the damage to it. It made Halo shake a bit but Mayu managed to get it under control. Ash on the other hand was starting to get a headache from his head injury, he moaned saying, "Argh, it hurts."

The two landed at the area where ZAFT has set up a temporary base where the injured are treated. The four of them saw the damage the base has suffered and saw it was extensive. Ash called to Athrun asking, "Hey Athrun, what do we do now?"

"Give me a moment." He replied. Athrun noticed a car heading to the Minerva and upon magnifying the image, saw Durandal in the car with his bodyguards. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Let's got find someplace to rest."

The ZAKU started moving with the Halo right behind it. The Halo drew a few stares and a few whispered, "Hey, what's that mobile suit?"

As the two walked Mayu noticed a red ZAKU heading to the Minerva. It looked like it had thruster trouble due the smoke coming out of it. Mayu radioed to Athrun, "Hey, it looks like that mobile suit's heading for the new battleship."

"Perfect, we'll head over there ourselves. The Chairman's gone onboard that ship." Athrun said and he blasted his ZAKU into the air. Mayu turned to Ash and asked, "Do we follow?"

Ash winced a bit and replied, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. We need to return Halo back to them anyway."

So Mayu blasted Halo after the ZAKU heading for the Minerva. A few minutes later Athrun's ZAKU landed in the Minerva's hanger along with Halo. Everyone there was surprised, even Lunamaria said, "The Impulse? No, Shinn had the Sword Impulse the last time I saw him. And from what I recall the Impulse doesn't need to enter the hanger the normal way, I think. What is this one then?"

Inside Athrun brought down Cagalli from his ZAKU as Ash and Mayu did the same thing. Lunamaria said, "Who the hell are they?!" As a soldier pulled out his machine handgun Lunamaria grabbed it out of his hands and walked towards the four. She held her gun out towards them and said, "Identify yourselves! What were the four of you doing in those machines?!"

Athrun moved in front of Cagalli to cover her but Ash put his hand on his shoulder and nodded, signaling him that he'll take care of this. Ash stepped up and said, "Please put down your weapon miss." He took out a badge with Celestial's insignia and said, "I'm Agent Ash Sakuros of Celestial, and this is my aide Yuna Aska. The two beside me are Representative Attha of Orb and her bodyguard, Alex Dino."

Lunamaria was a bit confused and whispered, "Celestial? Attha?" Ash put his badge away and said, "Could you please escort us to the infirmary please? The Representative and I have injuries that need to be attended to." As if that was the signal, a drop of blood made it's way down his forehead. Athrun added in, "Also, could you let us see Chairman Durandal after this? I know he's onboard this ship."

As Ash wiped the blood off his forehead Lunamaria signaled to some of the guards and said, "Okay then, we'll escort you to the infirmary." She led them to the hanger's exit and as they walked down the hall, Lunamaria asked, "So, what were the four of you doing in those mobile suits."

Ash spoke up, "Well miss, I obtained permission from Chairman Durandal to borrow a mobile suit and he let me pilot the ZGMF-X55S Halo. As for the Representative and Mr. Dino, I assume they must have commandeered a mobile suit due to the threat of the three stolen machines, am I right?"

"Yes, it's exactly as he said." Athrun replied. Lunamaria looked a bit skeptical but didn't say anything. She thought to herself, 'Well, we'll see about that.'

As they continued walking the ship suddenly shook and a voice came on the intercom saying, "This ship will now commence battle procedures. Please follow procedures for launch. This ship is preparing to go into battle."

They stopped and the four were surprised at the announcement, Athrun in particular couldn't believe what was happening and said, "Is this ship going into battle?!"

"Athrun!" Cagalli shouted, reprimanding him, not realizing she just said his real name.

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow and said, "Athrun…?" This made Cagalli realize what she just said as Ash slapped his forehead lightly in disbelief. Mayu looked a bit nervous seeing what just happened. Lucky for her that she wasn't as well know as Athrun, especially to ZAFT. She looked at Ash who caught her glance and he coughed saying, "Excuse me, but shouldn't we head for the infirmary? My head's starting to hurt a bit."

This snapped Lunamaria back to her old self and she said, "Oh, yes! I'm sorry, please this way."

As they continued walking Ash whispered, "Nice going _princess_."

Cagalli felt a twinge of annoyance and snapped back whispering, "Well, sorry for screwing up!"

Athrun couldn't help but smirk and Cagalli just shook her head, wincing slightly from the pain. Ash and Mayu looked at each other with amused looks as the four continued to walk towards the infirmary.

Meanwhile Lunamaria had a few thoughts going on through her head, 'Athrun…? As in Athrun Zala? I know I heard her say that. Now that I think about it, he does look like him.' She kept on thinking about it until they reached the infirmary.

* * *

_Minerva – hanger bay_

A couple of mechanics were going over the Halo with interest, with Vino and Yolant leading them. They heard a rumor of a prototype of the Impulse was built, one that didn't come in combinable parts. It was built to analyze how to exactly build the Impulse the way it was. The Halo was kept under strict secrecy since it wasn't supposed to be part of the second stage prototypes assigned to the Minerva. It was supposed to be rebuilt into another Impulse unit so everyone wondered what the heck it was doing her.

Vino and Yolant were busy checking out the cockpit when the found something interesting. Vino said, "Hey Yolant, take a look at this."

"What is it?" Yolant asked as he peeked inside. On a monitor it showed the Halo's OS, or more importantly, Mayu's custom OS that Ash and Mayu forgot to uninstall from the Halo. The two looked at it and were quite surprised at how different it was to ZAFT's regular OS. Vino said, "Wow, I heard that a Celestial agent was piloting the Halo. From what I could see the agent uploaded his own personal OS into the Halo and made some adjustments that suited the mobile suit."

"Now that's really amazing." Yolant said, "We'll since the pilot was that Celestial agent and that we don't have one of our own pilots assigned to this baby, we'll just leave it alone for now."

Vino just shrugged as he climbed out of the cockpit. Aside from the damaged thruster from the Halo's Force Silhouette there wasn't really much damage to the Halo itself. It mostly had a few scratches and some sear burns on the armor. Some of the technicians were busy repairing the damage and Vino said, "Well, we'd better load up the spare Sword Silhouette parts. I heard that Shinn lost both of the Silhouette's Excalibur swords."

"What?! No way!" Yolant said as he walked with Vino towards the area of the hanger where the Impulse parts were stored.

* * *

_Minerva – infirmary_

As Lunamaria led the four of them in Ash stopped in front of the door and thought, 'Hmm, I think I forgot something important. What was it?'

Mayu called to Ash, "Hey Ash, aren't you coming in?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there." Ash replied. 'Oh well, I guess I'll figure it out later.' He thought to himself as he entered the infirmary, wincing in pain at his slight head injury.


	7. Journey on the Minerva

Chapter 7 – Journey on the Minerva

_Minerva – infirmary_

Mayu, Ash, Cagalli, and Athrun were in the infirmary with Ash and Cagalli getting their injuries treated. Lunamaria was watching them as the nurses finished treating Ash. He called to her, "Um, excuse me miss?"

Lunamaria turned his attention to him replying, "Yes, Agent Sakuros?"

"Please, call me Ash. I'm not really fond of formalities." Ash told her, "Do you mind if I ask you a question, um, miss-?"

"It's Lunamaria Hawke, but you can call me Lunamaria, Ash." Lunamaria replied. Ash looked at her with interest and commented, "Lunamaria huh? That's one beautiful name." Lunamaria blushed a bit at the comment while Mayu gave Ash an odd look. The nurses just finished treating Cagalli and now both she and Athrun were listening with interest.

Ash got back on track and said, "Okay then, what I'm about to ask may offend you somewhat since it's a bit personal. What I want to know is: is that skirt really part of your uniform?"

Everyone was dumbfounded by Ash's question but Lunamaria gave Ash a look before laughing and replied, "Don't worry, I'm not offended Ash. Actually I was asked this before so it's not surprising. Yes, it's part of my uniform that I happen to have chose myself." She looked interested and asked, "You wouldn't mind if you told me why you asked that question, would you?"

Ash thought about it for a second before saying, "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt. You see, my sister was in ZAFT; she was a redcoat, just like you are. The thing is that I still remember the uniform my sister wore and don't remember it having a skirt, that's all."

Lunamaria was a bit surprised and both Cagalli and Athrun were also surprised hearing that Morina used to be a ZAFT redcoat. They heard that she used to be in ZAFT but never heard that she was one of the elites. That's when Lunamaria whispered, "I'm sorry…"

"For what?" Ash asked, looking confused.

"Your sister…" Lunamaria said in a hushed voice.

Both Mayu and Ash looked at each other for a moment confused. Then Ash realized what Lunamaria was talking about and he corrected her saying, "Oh no, no. My sister's still alive! It's just that she quit ZAFT after what happened at Endymion. You don't have anything to apologize about Lunamaria."

"Wha…?" Lunamaria suddenly felt embarrassed as Mayu, Athrun, and Cagalli were a bit amused by the turn of events. Suddenly the ship rocked and Mayu asked, "What the heck was that?!"

"Felt like the ship hit a few mines or something." Ash replied. Athrun was holding Cagalli in his arms which made Mayu think, 'Those two can be so cute sometimes.' Suddenly she had an image of her and Ash in the same situation. This made Mayu blush a bit as she shook the image out her mind in embarrassment.

Meanwhile Lunamaria regained her balance, although she was still a bit embarrassed over what happened earlier. When she caught Ash's eye she turned around and said, "I'm going to report to the captain about the situation. Please excuse me."

When Lunamaria walked over to a nearby terminal Ash turned to Mayu and asked, "Are you alright Yuna?"

"What?" For a moment, Mayu was out of it for a bit. When she regained her focus Mayu replied, "Oh, yes Ash, I'm fine."

Ash sighed and said, "What the heck do we do now? We're stuck on this ship and I'm pretty sure the Minerva, I think that's the name, is going after the stolen prototypes. There's probably a carrier out there too. Just makes me wonder how many ships got whacked out there." Athrun and Cagalli joined them and Ash asked them, "So, what are you two going to do?"

"We're going to go talk to Chairman Durandal about the situation." Athrun replied. Before he could say anything else however, Lunamaria came back to them and said, "Sorry about that. I'll need to send a report to the captain later so, in the mean time the four of you can have some rest and wait in one of the officer's quarters."

"Thank you very much." Cagalli said.

When Lunamaria and a few guards led the four to one of the rooms she turned to them and said, "You will be escorted by someone else to see the Chairman and the Captain. I would do that myself but I have to head to the hanger to check on my ZAKU. It was nice meeting you Agent Sakuros, I'll see you guys later!"

As Lunamaria left the four of them Mayu couldn't help but think to herself, 'Is my brother going to be on this ship? What will happen if we see each other again?"

* * *

_Heaven's Reprieve – Serene's mobile suit hanger_

Morina, Elena, Synar, and Antino were busy helping Asagi, Juri, and Mayura with the installation of the new VPS armor generators into their Astray Frames. Morina noticed something interesting about the way the three ladies designed their machines, which was that all of them were pretty adaptable in combat situations, despite their specialties.

Asagi's Sapphire Frame was designed to be all adaptable, like the Strike and Impulse. The Sapphire Frame is able to use the Strike's Sword and Launcher packs and has a hardwired thruster unit like the M1 Astray HM Types. It also has the added thrusters of the HM Types making it higher mobility than the other two Frames. Asagi herself said that out of all three of them, hers was the most balanced.

Juri's Ruby Frame was designed mainly for close quarters combat. It had a hardwired Sword pack attached to it, which is essentially two Sword Striker packs on each arm. This meant that it had two shortened Schwert Gewehr anti-ship swords as well as two Midas Messer beam boomerangs attached on the shoulder. This made it look very much like the Sword Impulse except that the two swords were able to combine into a broadsword with a full beam edge. For long range engagements it has the same experimental beam rifle as the Claymore, allowing it to shoot farther with it's rifle than the other two. It also had a Shorty beam rifle like the Strike E's attached to it's side hip, giving it more long range options. The Ruby Frame had the same thruster pack as the Sapphire Frame but had fewer thrusters on it than the Sapphire Frame. Regardless it was quite agile in combat.

Mayura's Silver Frame was the total opposite of Juri's Frame, in that it was designed for long range combat, like the Verde Buster and Barrett. It had a hardwired Launcher pack attached. With it's two modified Agni hyper impulse cannons and anti-ship cannons and two Xiphas rail cannons attached to the side shoulders it was practically a mobile gun turret. For close range options it had two beam sabers in the shoulders as well as ones attached to the wrists like the Rosso Aegis and it's predecessor. Like the other two Frames it had a HM thruster pack attached as well as the additional thrusters of a HM Type, although it's mobility was reduced thanks to the heavy weaponry. Nevertheless, it was quite mobile, even though it was the slowest of the three.

Morina smirked as she thought of how the three's preferences came out in their mobile suits. She sighed though over the situation that was going on now. Morina figured that she couldn't just sit around and wait for the installation to finish, it wasn't like her. So now she was helping the others with the VPS installation.

She and the others couldn't help but see that Silenna, Luri, Kazuki, and even Flay were still not back yet. They were lucky that the thruster installation was delayed or else there would have been a repeat of what happened before. The others had a feeling that Silenna was up to something involving Kazuki again and even involved Flay this time. Morina thought to herself, 'Those two better get back here soon, 'cause they should know what happens if they don't.'

* * *

_Heaven's Reprieve – a restaurant beside a park_

Silenna and Flay were busy watching Kazuki having another 'date' at a restaurant with the same Celestial member from the last incident. Luri had left for the spaceport where the Serene was a while ago to see what the situation was. Silenna was still giggling from time to time while Flay was still shocked at what she was seeing. Even though Kazuki was a very good actor from what she saw Flay could still see him squirm in discomfort from time to time. Flay turned to Silenna and asked, "Why do you do this again?"

Silenna thought about it for a second, then she replied, "Because it's fun to watch, not to mention Kazuki benefits from this by improving his acting skills."

Flay couldn't believe what she just heard when her communicator beeped. She answered it to get a message from Luri. It said, 'Guys, I just found out that the Serene's departure has been delayed due to installation troubles with the thrusters. Either way, Morina wants the three of you back at the Serene right now. She said something about what happened last time and that it's going to be worse this time around.'

Flay showed the message to Silenna, who's eyes widened at that last part. She didn't enjoy the punishment Morina gave to them the last time and Silenna thought that it was the worst thing that Morina dished out. To hear it was even worse sent chills down her spine. Silenna snapped to Flay, "We're getting Kazuki and heading back to the Serene now!"

"And how do we suppose we do that?" Flay asked, pointing to the table where Kazuki and the Celestial member were sitting.

"Hit and run Flay, hit and run." Silenna replied. Flay didn't know what she meant by that as Silenna suddenly grabbed her and they both ran towards the table where Kazuki was sitting.

When they got there Kazuki and the Celestial member were a bit surprised at Silenna and Flay's sudden appearance. Silenna grabbed Kazuki and said, "C'mon, we got to get going! Or else Morina will give us an even worse you-know-what!"

Kazuki instantly understood what she meant and he hastily said, "I'm sorry but I have to go now." That's all he said before Silenna and Flay dragged him off in a flash. As for the Celestial member, known to his friends and colleagues as Christopher Colasour, he was stumped yet again at what just what happened. Unfortunately for him, he was head over heels for Kazuki, who went by his last name Himori Kuranai whenever Silenna dressed him up.

He said to himself, "Oh I hope I can meet that sweet angel once again. And this time I won't let her go."

Kazuki suddenly felt a chill down his spine as Silenna and Flay stuffed him into the waiting cab. The other two went in after him and Silenna said to the driver, "To the spaceport quickly please!"

The driver nodded and the cab drove off. If there was something Silenna learned during her time in Celestial and with the others, it was that they should never piss off Morina to the deep end. Some of them learned that the hard way and looked like they were traumatized afterwards. Ash wasn't as bad as Morina since he seemed passive half the time; the pilots wondered if the two were really twins from the way they acted. The only ones who avoided Morina's bad side were Mayu and Elena, who seemed to have learned how to keep Morina happy, even if they got into trouble. The others tried to get the secret out of them but all the two said was that it was a secret between them.

In the cab Flay saw the look of anxiety on her face and knew what would happen if Morina punished them. Kazuki looked like he was dazed and Flay thought, 'Ugh, it feels like it's going to be a long day.'

* * *

_Minerva – one of the officer's rooms_

Chairman Durandal and Captain Gladys were with Ash, Mayu, Cagalli, and Athrun having a talk. Durandal said, "I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience princess, and I'm also grateful for your assistance in the Halo Agent Sakuros."

Ash said, "It's no problem Chairman. Actually you should be thanking my aide; she took over the controls a bit into the battle due to my injury." Mayu looked at Ash seeing that it was a blatant lie, but the head injury made it a lot more convincing.

Durandal turned to Mayu and she blushed a bit as he said, "Well then, I guess I should thank you for your assistance Ms. Aska, I never realized that you were a mobile suit pilot."

Mayu was still a bit red but she replied calmly, "It's no problem Mr. Chairman."

Durandal smiled at her and redirected his attention to Ash and Cagalli, "As I was saying I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope that the two of you understand our position here."

"Have you been able to figure out anything about the attackers?" Cagalli asked.

"Sadly no," Durandal answered, "Furthermore we have no information about their carrier either."

"Hmm, from what I can see these guys are definitely not pirates." Ash said.

Both Durandal and Talia turned his attention to him and Durandal asked, "What makes you say that Agent Sakuros?"

Ash sighed and replied, "I've seen how pirates work over the years. This operation of the enemy's was a bit too smooth for my tastes. Only seasoned soldiers would be able to pull off a stunt like this one."

Talia was quite interested in what Ash said. From the sound of his voice he sounded like a veteran soldier from a military. She interrupted him asking, "Excuse me Agent Sakuros, but you sound like you have experience in the military."

Ash smiled and said, "Yes I do actually. My aunt made me go through Orb's military training all the way to the end prior to my joining of Celestial. I can say that it has saved my life quite a number of times."

"I see…" Talia said. Ash continued to say, "Anyway, let's just hope the people that stole the three prototypes aren't the Earth Forces."

"I agree, it would be a catastrophe if they were. That's why we have to take control of the situation quickly, before it goes out of control." Durandal said.

"I understand," Cagalli said. She looked a bit upset as she said, "We can't do anything that can upset our fragile world, no matter what the cost."

Ash thought to himself, 'Our 'fragile world' huh? I guess you can call it that considering the current situation of the Earth.' He looked at Mayu and saw that she looked bored again, 'Jeez, if Morina were here instead of me Mayu would be more alert. She may be kind but Morina knows how to keep someone in line.'

Durandal said, "I'm glad that you understand princess. As a token of good faith, let me give you a guided tour of the Minerva."

"Chairman!" Talia shouted at him. Apparently she felt against having civilians go around the ship."

"Talia, I think that this is the least we can do for them. We are asking them to place their lives in our hands after all. Think of this as a gesture of good faith towards our friends." Durandal told her.

Talia was silent but gave a defeated look which made Ash think, 'Man, the Chairman sure knows how to own someone.'

As Durandal got up and beckoned him to follow Mayu was off in her own little world. She was like this until Ash got up and prodded her on the shoulder, bringing her back to reality. He said, "I know things like this can be boring Yuna, but please try to stay alert."

Cagalli, Athrun, and even Talia laughed a bit as Durandal smiled at the scene. Mayu felt really embarrassed but quickly regained her composure. She muttered, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright Yuna. Okay Chairman, if you would please." Ash said.

Durandal nodded as he led the four out of the room. Talia excused herself saying that she had to head for the bridge due to her duties. Instead they found Rey standing there and Durandal asked Rey to join them in her place. He was more than glad to and the group started to go around the Minerva, with Durandal showing them the various places.

* * *

_Minerva – hanger_

Shinn was busy checking up on the Impulse before it was going to be separated. He felt a bit tired after the battle and felt annoyed that the prototypes got away. Part of his mind however, was still on the confrontation between him and the first girl he bumped into. Shinn couldn't help but think that the girl looked too much like Mayu despite the eyes and hairstyle; the thought just wouldn't leave his head. Still, he couldn't believe that he accidentally groped two girls that bumped into him. He thought to himself, 'Jeez, it feels like I'm turning into some sort of molester. I'd better be careful from now on. If I accidentally did that to Luna I'd most likely end up in the infirmary.'

He looked around and saw the Halo in the hanger, right beside the ZAKU Athrun and Cagalli were in. Shinn wondered when the Halo was made. From what he heard from Vino and Yolant the Halo's supposed to be the prototype of the Impulse. It was practically identical to the Impulse in every way except that it didn't come in pieces. He wondered, "I saw the Halo on the field fighting the prototypes. I wonder how it got here.'

When he went back to the Impulse he saw Lunamaria heading towards him. As she approached she greeted him, "Hey Shinn."

"Hi Luna, what're you doing?" Shinn asked.

"I'm just checking on my ZAKU." Lunamaria replied, "Hey, did you hear about our guests?"

"Guests? What guests?" Shinn asked, looking confused.

"You mean you haven't heard?!" Lunamaria said. Shinn knew that she liked hearing gossip from around the ship so it wasn't surprising to see her reaction. She continued, "Well anyway, you know the mobile suit in the hanger that looks like the Impulse? One of the guests onboard piloted it with permission from Chairman Durandal!" This made Shinn raise an eyebrow as Luna said, "His name's Agent Ash Sakuros of Celestial. He has an aide with him too; I think that her name's Yuna Aska."

"Yuna…Aska?" Shinn slowly asked.

"Yeah, her last name sure sounds like yours, doesn't it?" Lunamaria said, "Anyway, the other two guests, they're Representative Cagalli Yula Attha from Orb and her bodyguard Alex Dino."

Shinn's eyes narrowed at the mention of Cagalli's name and Orb but Lunamaria didn't notice. She kept on going saying, "But I think that Alex's real name is Athrun!"

This got Shinn's attention as he said, "Athrun? As in Athrun Zala?"

"Yeah, that's right! I heard the representative say it in the heat of the moment! From what I heard Athrun Zala is living in Orb now." Lunamaria said happily.

As the two floated towards Lunamaria's ZAKU Shinn couldn't help but think, 'If that guy really is Athrun Zala then why is he with Orb.' Then his thoughts turned back to Mayu, 'Dammit, I just can't get that girl out of my head! Maybe if I meet her again this feeling I have will go away!'

* * *

Durandal and Rey were walking with the four around the ship, with Durandal guiding them around the Minerva. Now they were heading for the hanger in the elevator. When they got out Durandal said, "This is the ZGMF-1000 series, it is better known as the ZAKU."

"Does ZAKU happen to stand for anything?" Ash asked.

"Yes it does, it means 'ZAFT Armored Keeper of Unity'." Durandal answered him.

"How interesting…" Ash said. He thought, 'Wow, an acronym that's easy to say. It makes me wonder what GINN and GuAIZ stand for, if they mean anything.'

Durandal continued on, "The ZAKU is the main mobile suit of the ZAFT forces." Durandal's voice caught the attention of everyone in the hanger, particularly Shinn and Lunamaria. Shinn went off to see what was going on and Lunamaria wanted to follow him but she had work to do on her ZAKU.

Then Durandal continued on, "Then there's the Impulse with it's unique mobile suit system. I'm sure the four of you saw it in action at the arsenal."

"Yes, we did. Allow me to take a guess that the Halo is the Impulse's prototype, I take it?" Ash asked.

"That is precisely correct Agent Sakuros. I don't know much of the details but what I do know is that the Impulse is the result of two separate projects. One of them is the Halo and the other; well it's the system that puts the Impulse together as a mobile suit." Durandal explained to him.

"Wow, that's one interesting system." Ash said. Suddenly he remembered what he forgot. Ash looked at Mayu and thought, 'Oh crap, we were in such a hurry to get out of the Halo I forgot to uninstall Mayu's OS from the machine! I hope the Minerva's technicians didn't look into it too much. I'll get rid of it when I get the chance.'

Meanwhile Cagalli looked at the hanger with a bit of contempt. Durandal noticed this and said, "I take it you don't care very much for them princess?"

"Well, you seem to be happy about it." Cagalli said with irritation. Ash sighed at her attitude, Ash didn't mind that Cagalli was idealistic but he felt that her idealism tended to cloud her judgment sometimes.

As Durandal and Cagalli talked Shinn had made his way to the elevators. Ash had noticed his approach and instantly recognized him as the guy that bumped into Mayu in Armory One, her brother Shinn Asuka. Mayu on the other hand, was listening to the conversation between Cagalli and Durandal, so she didn't notice.

When Durandal was talking Shinn interrupted him shouting, "But excuses are the specialty of the Atthas!" At that moment Mayu froze up and looked where Shinn's voice came from. She saw his face look up to Cagalli with malice in his eyes.

As Mayu quickly regained her composure the look on Shinn's face quickly turned from anger to shock when he saw Mayu standing with Cagalli and the others. He thought, 'No, it can't be, it's the girl from earlier! How is she on this ship?!'

With that he quickly ran off before Rey could catch him. Mayu watched as Shinn floated off. After Rey apologized to Durandal Ash asked, "Do you mind if my aide and I go after that boy?"

Everyone there was quite surprised at what he asked, especially Mayu. Durandal asked, "May I ask why?"

Ash looked at him and replied, "Well, I'm just curious. Actually I'm wondering if I can arrange a simulated sparring match between my aide and that boy Shinn."

What Ash just suggested kept surprising everyone. Durandal had a very interested look on his face and he said, "Hmm, well why not. It would be interesting to see what a Celestial pilot would be like against a ZAFT Red."

"Okay then, all we need to do is find that Shinn." Ash said. He then asked, "What's his full name by the way." Ash already knew due to Mayu but it would raise complications if he suddenly said Shinn's full name out of the blue. Durandal replied, "His name's Shinn Asuka, Agent Sakuros."

Ash said, "Okay then, I suggest all of you cover your ears." He took a deep breath and everyone covered their ears. Then he shouted, "Hey, Shinn Asuka! Me and the Chairman want to talk to you! Where are you?!"

Shinn was back with Lunamaria, Vino, and Yolant at Lunamaria's ZAKU. Rey had just caught up with them when the entire hanger heard Ash shouting. Lunamaria nodded to Vino and Yolant and both of them grabbed Shinn along with Rey. Lunamaria shouted, "He's over here Ash!"

"Thanks Lunamaria!" Ash shouted back. Shinn was dragged to the ground with Lunamaria following them. As the group headed towards them Ash quietly whispered, "I know you want to tell him but now is not the time."

"I know…" Mayu said. Inside, it was hurting her that she couldn't tell Shinn that she was alive and well. Mayu knew that he reacted to her when Shinn saw her due to her looks, despite the changes. She sighed as the group approached them.

For some reason Cagalli was behind Athrun, not wanting to see Shinn after what just happened. Durandal was about to approach them but Ash gave him a look that said that he'll take care of this. He merely nodded and stepped back as everyone present saluted him. Ash and Mayu walked forward and said, "Hey Lunamaria."

"Hey Ash, we heard you shouting. So, what do you want with Shinn?" Lunamaria asked. Mayu kept a straight face as she was standing with Ash. It hurt her to see that Shinn was in the ZAFT military, a redcoat nonetheless. But a part of her was happy to see that he was at least still alive again.

Shinn on the other hand looked at Mayu with a bit of shock on his face. He certainly didn't think that he would see her again after what happened back at Armory One. Shinn seeing Mayu on the Minerva certainly shocked him. Rey and Lunamaria noticed his reactions and they wondered why he was acting the way he was. They decided to talk to Shinn later about it.

Ash cleared his throat and said, "Well, before I get down to business let me introduce all of you to my aide, Yuna Aska."

Mayu bowed and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

This pushed another button inside Shinn since it was, well, Mayu's voice. Vino and Yolant were looking at Mayu with interested looks, since Mayu was quite the beauty. Shinn saw the looks the two were giving her and he suddenly felt the urge to beat them for some reason. Ash went on to say, "Okay, to get straight to the point. I want to arrange a simulated sparring match between the pilot of the Impulse and Yuna."

As Ash expected, everyone there was quite surprised with his request. Shinn looked like he was hit by a two by four though; fighting Mayu in a simulation was the last thing on his mind. Ash went on saying, "So, will you accept Shinn?"

Shinn still had a look like his brain stopped working for a sec and all he did was nod. Ash said, "Good, now is there any simulators around here?"

That's when Vino stepped up and said, "Uh yeah, there's a couple over there that you can use." Vino pointed to a door at the side of the hanger.

"Thanks very much." Ash said. He and Mayu were about to head over to the room when Ash said, "Oh, could someone help Shinn? He looks like he was hit by a hammer or something."

At that Lunamaria smirked and she prodded Shinn's shoulder saying, "Earth to Shinn, are you there? Come on, let's get moving." Shinn snapped back to reality saying "What?" as Lunamaria dragged him to the simulators. Rey, Durandal, Cagalli, and Athrun followed them.

When they reached the simulators Yuna instantly got into one of them while Shinn got into the other one. Mayu uploaded the data of the Halo into her simulator while Shinn did the same for the Impulse. The battlefield was set up for space combat with debris around the field and Ash looked at the nearby monitor and said, "Okay, the rules for this match are simple, the two of you keep going at it until one is destroyed or disabled." He went over to a nearby terminal and typed in simple commands. Both the Impulse and the Halo were equipped with the Force Silhouette pack. The VPS settings on the Halo were changed to the Blast configuration, to differentiate from the two. He asked, "I've tweaked the settings so that the two of you are running on unlimited power. Are you two ready?"

The both of them answered, "Yes." Ash said, "Well then, you may begin." At that moment both mechs flew away from each other and assumed defensive positions. Both of them just floated there for a minute until Mayu said, "Why don't you make the opening move Mr. Asuka."

Shinn felt a bit disturbed but said, "As you wish!" The Impulse took out it's rifle and started shooting at the Halo. The Halo blocked a few shots while it dodged the others. Shinn's first thought were, 'This girl is good. She's definitely not Mayu, that's for sure.'

Mayu on the other hand thought, 'What's with Shinn's shots? Some of them were totally wild."

As the Impulse kept on shooting with it's rifle Mayu took out the Halo's rifle and made a few precise shots, trying to destroy the Impulse's rifle. Shinn managed to block the shots in time and he traded fire with Mayu.

With everyone watching Lunamaria and Rey were quite impressed with Mayu's piloting skills. Even Durandal was quite impressed with the fight. As it went on Ash noticed a certain button and said, "What the heck does this one do?" While looking at it he accidentally pressed it when he meant to only touch it.

* * *

_Minerva – bridge_

The crew on the bridge was on the look out for the Girty Lue when Meyrin said, "Um ma'am?"

"What is it Meyrin?" Talia asked.

"Um, it looks like we are being connected to the simulation room in the hanger. It seems like something's going on in there." Meyrin told her.

Talia thought about it for a second then said, "Put it on screen."

"Yes ma'am." Meyrin said. She typed in a few commands and the simulated battle between the Impulse and the Halo appeared on screen. The Impulse was firing shot after shot at the Halo without much luck. Shinn shouted, "Why can't I hit her?!"

Then Mayu's voice replied teasingly, "Your shots are too wild Shinn, you should try and focus."

This made Talia curious and she ordered, "Try to contact whoever's in the simulation room. I want to know what's going on here."

"Yes ma'am." Meyrin said. As she was doing that Arthur commented, "I must say ma'am, whoever is going against Shinn is definitely giving him a challenge."

"Yes, and that's why I want to know what's going on down there." Talia said. She thought, 'Who would go up against Shinn in their own version of the Impulse?'

* * *

_Minerva – hangar, simulation room_

The battle was heating up as Mayu blasted Shinn's rifle into pieces. Shinn nearly got frustrated but managed to keep his cool. The battle went into the nearby debris field where there were various wrecks of ships and for some reason, ZAKUs too. Shinn saw a beam rifle in one of the destroyed ZAKU's hands. Mayu wondered what the heck Shinn was up to when suddenly the Impulse fired the beam rifle it picked up at the Halo. Mayu managed to block it as she said, "Hey, that's cheating!"

"Whatever!" Shinn shouted as he kept on firing at the Halo. He picked up a few rifle cartridges and attached them to his shield when the Halo took cover from the beams. Apparently the cartridges were able to stick to the Impulse's shield due to some kind of magnet.

As the battle when on Talia's face appeared on one of the monitors and said, "What's going on here?"

Durandal, Lunamaria, and Rey turned to the monitor with the redcoats saluting her. Durandal said, "Oh Talia, is something the matter?"

"Chairman?! What are you doing there?" Talia asked.

"I'm watching the sparring match between Shinn and Agent Sakuros' aide, Yuna Aska." Durandal simply replied.

Talia looked interested and on the other side, the rest of the bridge crew was also interested as they watched the fight unfold on their end. She said, "I see then. That's all I need to know." Before she cut the communication however they heard her say, "Alright people get back to work. We still need to track down Bogey One, so get to it!"

"Yes ma'am!" They all shouted back as the communication went dead.

Meanwhile the Impulse was chasing the Halo through the debris field with the Impulse shooting it's rifle. Shinn had already depleted one cartridge and was already halfway through the second one. Mayu was busy weaving through the debris while firing shots at the Impulse. She shouted at Shinn, "Come and get me Shinn!" as she drove the Halo into a derelict structure."

"You ain't getting away!" Shinn shouted back. As the Impulse followed both Shinn and Mayu were reminded of the time they played tag together a couple of years ago. This brought a tear to both their eyes as they wiped it away and focused on the battle. As Mayu traded shots with the Impulse she decided to switch from her beam rifle to her beam saber. Shinn saw what was happening and did the same thing.

Mayu made the first move as she made a charge with the beam saber with it pointed at the Impulse like a rapier. Shinn barely managed to dodge as the saber seared the Impulse's right shoulder. The Impulse swung around to slash it's Force Silhouette in half but the Halo managed to turn around and block the saber with it's shield. Then the Halo gave the Impulse a swift kick to it's left side to send it flying.

The Impulse managed to reorient itself and managed to block the Halo's incoming slash with it's shield. Shinn grunted and thought, 'Damn, Yuna's like a redcoat. If it weren't for the unlimited energy I'd be out of power already!'

Lunamaria grew quite impressed with Mayu. She turned to Ash and said, "Wow, she's good, Yuna's on an even level with Shinn. Just how old is she anyway?"

"She's 15." Ash said. This surprised just about everyone in the room except for Athrun and Cagalli. Lunamaria said in disbelief, "No way, she's this good yet she's younger than us?"

"That's about it." Ash said as he and the others continued to watch the fight. The two mobile suits made passes at each other and Mayu managed to slice off part of the Impulse's left arm and shield. Shinn also managed to destroy the Halo's shield when Mayu threw it at him like a boomerang and he sliced it in half. The Halo took out it's other beam saber and Mayu said, "Why don't we settle this with the next pass?"

"That's fine by me!" Shinn replied.

The two were about to go at each other again when the alarm went off and Meyrin's voice came on the intercom, "Bogey One has been detected, the Minerva has switched to condition red. All hands to your stations. All pilots report to your mobile suits." The simulators switched off and the two got out. Shinn looked like he was panting slightly while Mayu looked like she didn't even break a sweat. Mayu said, "I guess that's a tie for now."

"Tch, I guess so." Shinn said. Durandal interrupted them saying, "Let's head for the bridge."

"Just a moment Chairman," Ash said. Mayu noticed that he had that look in his eye that said he was up to something. He said, "I would like to offer help in this matter in the form of Yuna piloting the Halo."

Everyone looked at him oddly and Durandal asked, "Is that wise of you Agent Sakuros? Wouldn't there be repercussions?"

Ash looked at him and said, "Well, the enemy you're chasing isn't really classified as the Earth Forces. Also, I don't think it would be much of a problem, if the fact that a person from Celestial was piloting was stricken from the Minerva's records, right?"

Durandal thought about it for a moment then replied, "Very well then, I'll allow it. I'll have a talk with Talia about the situation. Ms. Hawke, please show Ms. Aska to the changing room."

"Yes sir!" Lunamaria said. She grabbed Mayu by the wrist and dragged her out of the room with Shinn and Rey following them. Durandal turned his attention back to the other three and said, "Now why don't we get to the bridge."

In the changing room both Lunamaria and Mayu got changed, with Mayu using a spare ZAFT red flight suit. Lunamaria looked at her and commented, "You know, you look good in that flight suit."

Mayu blushed a bit and said, "Y-you really think so?"

"Definitely." Lunamaria replied. Mayu retied her hair into a bun so she would have an easier time putting on the helmet. While she did that Lunamaria asked, "So, what do you think of Shinn's piloting skills?"

Mayu was a bit surprised at the question but answered, "He's good, but sometimes he acts without thinking."

"Tell me about it. You know that during our days in the academy, he was what you can say, 'energetic', I guess." Lunamaria told her.

"You mean he was a troublemaker right?" Mayu asked, seeing what she meant.

"Exactly, he wasn't exactly nice to our instructors, and that's saying it nicely too." Lunamaria said.

As the two left the change room they caught sight of Shinn and Rey. The two ignored them and walked over to their machines quietly, which made Lunamaria say, "Well, that was weird…"

"What do you mean by that?" Mayu asked.

"Rey's always like that, but Shinn would at least say something." Lunamaria told her.

"Maybe it's because of me…?" Mayu said in a soft voice. Lunamaria just shook her head and said, "I don't know, anyway we need to get to our machines ASAP."

Mayu nodded as the two headed for their mobile suits. As Mayu settled into the Halo she realized that her personal OS was still there. She thought, 'I'd better get rid of it after I'm done. What the heck is Ash thinking about these days? I wish I knew.'


	8. Girty Lue and Serene

Chapter 8 – Girty Lue and Serene

_Minerva – bridge_

As the four of them made their way to the bridge, Durandal apologized to Cagalli for Shinn's actions earlier. Ash thought to himself, 'Man, the look Shinn gave Cagalli must have scared her or something, considering how she acted earlier.'

The door to the bridge opened and the four of them went in. Talia turned around and said, "Chairman!" Then she noticed Ash, Athrun, and Cagalli. That's when Durandal said, "Would you mind if I ask a favor? I would like Agent Sakuros and our guests from Orb to accompany us on the bridge. As you may know, the Representative is a veteran of many battles and even took command of a warship in the last war. As for Agent Sakuros, you know that he's a veteran in battle and I heard that he's an excellent mobile suit pilot. I would like the two of them to observe our battle methods."

Talia sighed and said, "If that's what you want Mr. Chairman, than I'll permit it."

"Thank you Talia." Durandal replied as the four of them took their seats. That's when Talia asked, "I see that Ms. Aska's not with you, where is she?"

Durandal answered that question, "Agent Sakuros has graciously lent her help in recapturing our mobile suits. She will be piloting the Halo for us."

"I see…" Talia said. Then she gave her orders, "Lower the bridge! Prepare the ship for anti-ship and anti-mobile suit combat! Meyrin, have the Halo prepped for launch with the Impulse and Lunamaria's ZAKU."

"Yes ma'am!" Meyrin said as the bridge was lowered. Athrun and Cagalli were surprised at the sudden movement while Ash thought, 'Now this is quite interesting. It looks like it was designed to protect the bridge, or to fool the enemy at least.'

As the bridge stopped on the lower level Meyrin shouted, "ZAKU and Impulse are ready for launch. Halo will launch after the Force Module is loaded onto the catapult!"

"ZAKU, Impulse, and Halo, launch!" Talia ordered.

While they heard the pilots radio in, both Athrun and Cagalli were surprised to hear Shinn's full name. The figured that they'll talk to Mayu and Ash about it later. Meanwhile Durandal was going on about the true name of Bogey One. Ash didn't like where this was going and when Durandal said Athrun's real name he thought, 'Oh no, figured he got figured out rather easily. He should have come to us about disguises, maybe we would have disguised him as a girl or something.'

The only reason Mayu wasn't figured out was because no one knew her, except Shinn but her disguise was playing around with his mind. Athrun on the other hand was a bit too famous and it was no surprise someone like Chairman Durandal would recognize him, not to mention that he really wasn't going incognito there. Ash sighed and before Cagalli could say anything he asked, "Excuse me if I sound rude Mr. Chairman, but are you going somewhere with this?"

Durandal replied, "I'm sorry about that Agent Sakuros, and there is no need for concern Representative. I know the steps taken by Chairwoman Canaver after the war. It's just that I wanted to make sure I was talking to the real you Athrun."

Ash just looked on and thought, 'Well, he's not the only one who's in disguise here.'

* * *

_Serene – bridge, an hour earlier_

"Finally, we are out of here!" Morina shouted with happiness. Natarle looked at her with amusement and said, "You seem pretty happy Morina."

"Of course Natarle, now we can go after our Celestial members!" Morina said happily.

The Serene was on its way out of Heaven's Reprieve's hanger. Apparently the installation of the new thrusters was finished two hours earlier than expected. Not to mention that Silenna, Flay, and Kazuki managed to get to the Serene on time. It was funny how Morina had mentioned that it felt like a case of déjà vu, since Morina said, "You know, every time we come here, Kazuki comes back in a dress. It's like a ritual or something."

Everyone laughed as Kazuki blushed in embarrassment. That's when Morina whispered in his ear, "You know, if you keep this up some of us are going to think that you like dressing up as a girl."

Morina left the pilots with Kazuki beet red in the face. Now on the bridge Morina asked, "What's the status of Armory One? Have we heard anything from ZAFT?"

"There's nothing ma'am," Terence replied, "Control hasn't received any messages from ZAFT. Although…"

"Although what?" Natarle inquired.

"Um, there's a report that one of the observation satellites has detected an unknown battleship leaving Armory One ma'am. A small probe with Mirage Colloid was dispatched to track the battleship." Terence reported.

"Do we have the probe's location?" Natarle asked.

Kain replied to that, "Yes ma'am, we should be able to catch up to the ship within an hour or so, thanks to the new thrusters."

"Okay, Kain set the course if you will. Oh and Skyrin, try not to push the new thrusters too hard."

"Yes ma'am." Skyrin said as he rolled his eyes a bit. Part of the reason for getting new thrusters was the fact that Skyrin accidentally pressed on the acceleration a bit too hard resulting in one of the thrusters to blow somehow. The story was that the thruster wasn't working properly due to a small meteorite hitting it. Everything went down from there and Skyrin learned to stay alert behind the wheel, so to speak.

Morina sat down in her observation chair and said, "Since there's been no word maybe that ship may give us some answers."

"I hope so." Natarle said to her as the Serene made it's way to the area where the Minerva was located.

* * *

_Debris field_

The ZAKU, Blast Impulse, Force Halo, and two GuAIZ Rs were going through the field as Lunamaria murmured, "I didn't score well in asteroid simulations."

"I'm sure the enemy knows that we're here now. Stay on your toes!" Shinn told her.

"I know that Shinn. You know, you're starting to sound like Rey, and it's throwing me off here!" Lunamaria said.

Mayu laughed and said, "The two of you sure sound like you're having fun."

"We are not! It's just weird seeing Shinn act like Rey." Lunamaria told her. Mayu giggled as the five mobile suits continued to cruise through the debris.

After a while Shinn thought, 'Why hasn't anything happened yet?' Mayu was thinking the same thing when she said, "Hold on a minute!"

The five mobile suits stopped and Shinn asked, "What is it Ma-, uh, Yuna?"

Mayu looked around and said, "The enemy's waiting for us."

Lunamaria looked around and asked, "What makes you say that?"

"The debris can hide mobile suits. Lunamaria, Shinn, try blasting the larger debris with your cannons." Mayu told them. Shinn and Lunamaria looked at each other but did as they were told. As both of them blasted the larger parts of the debris one of Shinn's particular shots hit a rather large piece made the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss come out.

"The hell?! They knew we were here!" Sting shouted.

"Oh well, at least we get to fight them anyway!" Auel shouted as the Abyss fired it's arsenal at the group.

"Tch, everyone scatter!" Mayu shouted as the five mobile suits broke apart. Unfortunately the Chaos went after one of the GuAIZ Rs and tore it to pieces.

"Shawn!" Lunamaria shouted as the Gaia came after it. The Chaos went after the Halo as Sting shouted, "I never thought I would meet that combining bastard's twin here as well! It must be our lucky day, right Auel?"

"You said it!" Auel replied as he engaged the Impulse.

Mayu was dodging the attacks from the Chaos and she thought, 'These are definitely not pirates. The maneuvers they use are too smooth.'

The Halo fired at the Chaos forcing it to hide behind some debris while recalling it's gunbarrels. With that, the Halo flew over to assist Lunamaria's ZAKU. The ZAKU wasn't doing very well against the Gaia since the ZAKU was equipped with weaponry designed for long range combat. That was when Mayu came charging in and slammed into the Gaia with it's shield, sending it spinning. Lunamaria took that chance to fire it's cannon at the Gaia. Stella managed to snap out of it and barely dodged the cannon fire. Mayu called over asking, "Are you alright Luna?!"

"Yeah, thanks for the assist." Lunamaria replied. The Halo turned to engage the incoming Chaos and fired at it.

Meanwhile the Impulse and the Abyss were trading beam and plasma shots at each other. Shinn was getting a bit frustrated as he said, "Damn, what's happening here?!" Suddenly the decoy's signal vanished from their radar. Shinn said, "What…Bogey One…?"

Mayu and Lunamaria noticed it too and Mayu hissed, "A decoy, then the real one…?" She didn't have time to think about it when the Gaia came back and attacked, with Stella shouting, "You're gonna pay for that!" And she fired at the Halo and the ZAKU, causing them to scatter. Mayu said to herself, "I hope the Minerva's alright…"

* * *

_Minerva – bridge_

The bridge crew was shocked to see that the Girty Lue had appeared behind them. Ash said, "They must've somehow slingshot themselves around the asteroid. It looks like we're really dealing with professionals here."

As he watched the situation he thought, 'Hmm, if I didn't know any better the Minerva was fighting against the Earth Forces!' Ash heard Talia order, "Call Lunamaria, Shinn, and Yuna back here! And have Rey prepped for launch!"

That's when Ash suddenly got up and said, "Captain Gladys!" This got her attention and he asked, "Please let me borrow one of your mobile suits!"

"What?!" Talia shouted, sounding shocked. Ash continued, "I know I'm a Celestial Agent but I can't sit around and just watch! Please let me go out there!"

Talia turned to Durandal and he nodded to her. Then she said, "Alright I'll permit it. Meyrin, tell them to prep one of the ZAKUs for launch, Agent Sakuros is going to be the one piloting it."

"Yes ma'am!" Meyrin replied. Ash headed out the door saying, "Thank you Captain." as the door closed. Durandal commented, "He sure knows when to act, doesn't he?" For some reason he was glancing at Athrun when he said this.

* * *

_Debris field_

The Halo was engaging the Chaos while the Impulse was with the Abyss and the ZAKU was going at it with the Gaia. The Abyss stopped and shot through a solar panel, destroying the other GuAIZ R that was hiding behind it.

"No Dale!" Lunamaria shouted, "They've already taken out two of us!"

Mayu cringed at the odds, that's when all three of them got the message that the Minerva's in trouble. Lunamaria shouted, "The Minerva, they were waiting for us and we fell right into their trap!"

"I can see that Luna! But we're pinned down here and we can't head back." Shinn shouted as he fired another round at the Abyss. Mayu didn't say anything as she was starting to get annoyed with the Chaos; the gunbarrels were giving her a bit of trouble. She stayed focus and she switched from her rifle and hoisted the Halo's shield back. Then she drew both her beam sabers and started deflecting shots with them. Sting was surprised as the Halo got close to one of the gunbarrels and nearly sliced it in half. He shouted, "What the heck is with this pilot?!"

The Halo then charged straight at the Chaos and swung both it's sabers at it. They barely missed but the Halo gave a swift knee kick right in the torso, sending it crashing into some debris. Mayu was panting a bit and she blasted the Halo over to where the ZAKU and Gaia were fighting.

Sting shook his head and said, "Damn that bastard." The Chaos managed to get itself out but found that the Halo wasn't with it anymore. He saw the Abyss and Impulse blast by and he decided to help out Auel with the Impulse.

Shinn however decided to head into a derelict hanger while Lunamaria was busy firing it's cannon at the Gaia. The Gaia managed to get close to it and slam itself into her ZAKU, sending it crashing into the hanger. It crashed in front of the Impulse who fired it's Kerberos Cannons at it. Stella said angrily, "You, you keep interfering!" She didn't have time to attack however as the Halo came in with it's sabers pointed at it and Mayu shouting, "I got you!"

"Damn!" Stella shouted as she dodged the Halo's sabers. Mayu shouted, "Luna, Shinn, let's regroup then hit them hard!"

"Alright!" The two of them shouted, then both of them blasted out of the place and headed over to where Mayu was. The Gaia was firing it's beam rifle at the Halo but it was deflecting the shots with the beam sabers. As Shinn and Lunamaria approached their location they were amazed at how the Halo was deflecting shot after shot with it's beam sabers. They knew it took an extremely skilled pilot to pull those moves off. Stella, on the other hand was getting real pissed as she shouted, "Why won't you fall?!"

The Impulse and ZAKU fired their cannons at the Gaia, causing it to fall back. It regrouped with the Chaos and Abyss as Auel said, "Man these guys are tough!"

"No kidding, that combining one with the wings is especially tough!" Sting shouted back.

As the Impulse and Lunamaria's ZAKU caught up with the Halo Mayu thought, 'Shoot, we have to get back to the Minerva!'

* * *

_Asteroid – Minerva's location_

The Minerva was stuck with huge rocks in front of it and to it's left. On the bridge Talia called to Aves, "Aves, have Rey and Agent Sakuros launch immediately!"

On the other end Aves said, "But the catapult isn't cleared yet!"

"I don't care! Walk them out if you have too!" Talia ordered.

Back outside, both Rey's ZAKU Phantom and Ash's Blaze ZAKU headed out. Rey was a bit surprised by Ash's appearance but acknowledged working with him. Ash didn't have time to get into a flight suit and he assured those around his ZAKU that he'll be fine. After hearing the situation they decided that Rey would go after the Exus while Ash worked on taking out the Daggers. He installed his own OS and this time reminded himself to get rid of it when the job was done.

As he flew towards the Daggers he thought, 'Ha, since they haven't been identified as the Earth Forces I have no choice but to cut them down.' Ash flew towards the Daggers with the ZAKU's rifle raised. The two Dagger pilots thought they were dealing with another grunt and were caught off guard when the ZAKU dodged all of the shots. Ash aimed his shot carefully and fired at one of the Daggers, hitting the chest and the battery, causing it to explode instantly.

Ash tried to go for the other Dagger but was forced to dodge fire from the Exus gunbarrels. As Ash dodged each shot Neo commented, "This pilot's no grunt, that's for sure." He had to pull back a bit due to Rey's ZAKU Phantom firing at him. The Dagger pilot took that chance to head for the Minerva. Rey was about to go after it but Ash contacted him saying, "I'll go after that Dagger, just keep that mobile armor off of me!" With that Ash's ZAKU blasted off straight after it. The Exus aimed at it but the ZAKU Phantom fired on the Exus forcing it to dodge.

Meanwhile Ash was busy chasing after the Dagger going for the Minerva. He fired his beam rifle at it and it managed to dodge it. The ZAKU took out it's beam tomahawk and threw it at the Dagger. Then the ZAKU quickly grabbed it's beam rifle and fired at the Dagger, driving it towards the incoming tomahawk. It worked like a charm as the Dagger was forced into the tomahawk's path, slicing it apart.

The ZAKU caught the returning tomahawk and stored it back into it's shield. Then Ash turned it to face the Exus. He thought, 'If that Mobile Armor is piloted by a pilot with spatial awareness then I'd better watch out. Especially since this pilot seems to be a professional.'

Suddenly there was a huge explosion and a lot of rocks were flying around. Ash had to maneuver his ZAKU through the incoming debris as he asked, "What the heck was that?!"

A moment later the Minerva was cruising through the debris, going with the flow. Ash commented, "Wow, now that's something new."

The Minerva was facing the Girty Lue now as it charged it's positron cannon. The Girty Lue was moving to evade when the Minerva fired, skinning the Girty Lue with the blast. As the Girty Lue took damage the Minerva flew right past it. Neo was frustrated that things turned around so badly for them that he attempted to go after the ship himself. However, he was stopped by the shots from Ash and Rey's ZAKUs. This frustrated him even more and he called for a retreat. The Girty Lue moved away from the battlefield deploying retreat flares.

* * *

_Debris field_

Mayu and the others were having a hard time trying to get the stolen prototypes off of them. The battles became one on one, with the Halo taking the Abyss, Impulse with the Chaos, and the ZAKU with the Gaia. Things were heating up as the two sides regrouped again. Lunamaria said, "Geez, these guys are so persistent!"

Mayu agreed, "No kidding, look at us. There are gashes and sear marks all over our mobile suits. The technicians at the Minerva are going to have a field day with this."

"Who cares, we can take them." Shinn said. Lunamaria told him, "You said that five minutes ago Shinn, and look where we are."

"Grr…" Shinn said as Mayu said, "Shoot, I'm only at 20% power. I don't think we have much time left if we last."

Things weren't going well for the Extendeds as well, since their power levels were also low. That was when they saw the retreat signal from the Girty Lue. Sting and Auel were a bit pissed but Stella was happy to be recalled, after she got out of her trance. Mayu, Shinn, and Lunamaria saw it Lunamaria breathed a sigh of relief. Mayu thought, 'I guess things have worked out somehow.'

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

The Serene arrived on the battlefield during the middle of the battle under Mirage Colloid. Since it was between a battle with the unknown ZAFT battleship and an unknown force they couldn't intervene, since ZAFT was involved. On the bridge Natarle and Morina were observing the battle with interest. As they watched the Girty Lue retreat Morina said, "Wow, that ZAFT ship sure is full of surprises, isn't it?"

"Indeed, it kind of reminds me of the Archangel in a way." Natarle said. They saw that the Minerva was facing it as it fired it's signal flares. Morina had a sneaky look on her face and she asked, "Why don't we give that ship a little surprise?"

Natarle figured what she meant and said, "You want us to spook them?"

"Why not? It's not like they have the power to attack us anyway. Marianne, deactivate the Mirage Colloid, let's give our friends a little surprise." Morina ordered.

"Uh, yes Morina." Marianne said with uncertainty. She did as she was told and deactivated the Serene's Mirage Colloid, revealing the ship to the Minerva.

* * *

_Minerva – bridge_

Everyone was relaxing since the battle was very strenuous. As Durandal was thanking Talia for her hard work the alarm went off and Talia demanded, "What's going on?!"

"Ma'am, a battleship has appeared in front of us!" Meyrin reported.

"What?! Where did it come from?!" Talia demanded.

"I don't know, I think it was under Mirage Colloid ma'am!" Meyrin told her.

"Can we get a visual?" Talia asked.

"Yes ma'am, putting it on screen." The image of the Serene appeared. Cagalli laughed and said, "There's no need to worry Captain Gladys. It's Celestial's Serene."

Everyone looked shocked except Durandal and Athrun, even Talia was a bit surprised. She ordered a call back for the mobile suits, and to try to make contact with the Serene. I want to know what they're doing here. Also, call back all of our machines, and call Agent Sakuros to the bridge when he comes in ASAP."

"They're most likely here to pick up their members, or they trailed us looking for answers to the Armory One incident." Durandal told her, "No doubt they saw what happened."

Talia said nothing as Meyrin said, "Ma'am, we've made contact with the Serene."

"Put them on." Talia said.

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

Terence turned to Natarle and said, "Captain, the battleship is hailing us."

"Put it onscreen." Natarle ordered. As Terence did what he was told Natarle and Morina watched as Talia's face appeared onscreen. She said, "This is ZAFT's mobile assault ship Minerva, state your identity and reason for being here."

"I'm Captain Natarle Badgiruel of Celestial's battleship transport Serene. Our reason for being here is to ask information regarding our Representative Agent Ash Sakuros and his aide Yuna Aska that were sent to Armory One." Natarle said.

"I see. Well, I guess we should tell you that Agent Sakuros and her aide are onboard the Minerva along with Representative Attha and her bodyguard. Due to the recent battle we need to reorganize our ship. So you need to wait before we can accept visitors on the ship." Talia explained.

Natarle nodded and said, "I understand, please contact us when you are ready." With that the screen closed and Natarle said to Morina, "I guess that we'll have to wait a while."

Morina said, "At least going after that ship, the Minerva was it, was much better than we anticipated. We just came here for information but finding out that my brother and Mayu are on this ship is a lot better. At least picking the two of them up will be much easier."

Morina headed for the door and said, "Call me when the Minerva contacts us." With that she headed out the door. Marianne said, "You know, Agent Morina sure is happy."

"What makes you say that?" Yuuki asked.

"It's in her eyes. I saw that she looked overjoyed in her eyes." Marianne replied.

In the hallway Morina had a smile on her face as she thought, 'Whew, at least they're still alive. Well, I better got get Elena and tell her to get ready. I know that she was worried as much as I was.'

* * *

_Debris field_

The three machines were heading back to the Minerva after seeing the signal flares. Lunamaria was panting and Mayu noticed so she asked, "Are you alright Luna?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lunamaria assured her. Then the three noticed the Serene and Shinn said, "Is that the enemy?!"

"No, it's not." Mayu said. The two looked at her through their screens as she told them, "That's Celestial's battleship, the MABT-001 Serene. I'm sure you two heard of it."

The two nodded, since it was quite the subject back at the academy. They were told the reasons for Celestial's military and they understood, particularly Shinn, since he felt the same way, to gain power to protect oneself. Shinn asked, "What're they doing here?"

"Are you stupid Shinn?" Lunamaria asked, "Or did you forget that there are Celestial members on the Minerva, not to mention one of them is flying with us?"

"Oh," Was all Shinn could say. Mayu on the other hand was thinking to herself, 'For now, I need to ask Ash about what to do with me and Shinn.' The three of them flew towards the Minerva while Mayu was in thought.

* * *

_Minerva – hanger_

Ash was waiting for Mayu outside of the hanger, going over what just happened. This time, he remembered to get rid of his OS from the ZAKU he piloted. In his opinion, it was a good mobile suit, and it appeared to suit all types of pilots. He managed to get a firm grasp of it pretty quickly, which was surprising even for him. Ash hoped that Mayu remembered to remove her own OS from the Halo, but he figured that ZAFT wouldn't be able to get anything out of it. Due to it being customized extensively for her it would pretty much be of no use to anyone, only she would bring out the full power of her mobile suit with her own OS installed.

Ash shrugged to himself as Mayu came in looking a bit, as you can say, ruffled. The moment the Halo docked, Mayu jumped out of the mobile suit and rushed to the changing room. She hastily got changed and left before Shinn and Lunamaria managed to reach the door. But due to this her clothes weren't looking their best, unlike Ash who was wearing his Celestial uniform Mayu was wearing clothes similar to Cagalli's, but they were black with a white shirt underneath. Ash sighed and straightened out her clothes, making Mayu blush at Ash touching her. He said, "Looked like you dressed in a rush."

As the two made their way to the bridge in a quick manner she said, "Well, the Serene's here isn't it? We need to hurry to the bridge as soon as possible, right?"

Ash smirked as he said, "You have a point there. But you should at least look presentable, we are guests you know." Mayu just rolled her eyes as they made their way to the bridge. Halfway there though they ran into Durandal and Talia escorting Athrun and Cagalli back to their quarters. Durandal said, "Ah, Agent Sakuros, Ms. Aska, thank you very much for your help." Talia also thanked them, "Yes, thank you very much."

As she bowed to them Ash said, "It's no problem, it should be me that should be apologizing though, for getting ourselves involved."

"No, that's not necessary. As we said before, thank you for helping the Minerva." Durandal said to them.

As they walked to Athrun and Cagalli's quarters Durandal said, "As the two of you may know, the Serene is near the Minerva, no doubt here to pick you up." When they reached the quarters Durandal added, "Once things have settled down we'll call the Serene to send someone to pick the two of you up."

Then Durandal turned his attention to the other two and said, "Oh yes, shouldn't we be grateful for Athrun's help as well?"

As Mayu followed Cagalli in, she gave Ash a stern look and blinked twice before she went in. Ash knew what that look was, he and Morina taught it to her or she caught on to it, he couldn't remember which. That look meant, 'We need to talk.' Ash wondered what Mayu wanted to talk about but had a feeling that it involved Shinn somehow. As Athrun talked with Durandal and Talia, he wondered what was going to happen from now on.

He was deep in thought that he barely noticed Athrun walking away. He thought, 'What's eating him?'

Ash went after Athrun and he found him sitting in a seat in one of the lounge rooms. He went over and as he did Athrun looked up. Ash asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah," Athrun said weakly. Ash sat down on a seat opposite of Athrun's and he said, "Don't worry so much. You got to admit, your disguise wasn't all that concealing appearance wise. Not to mention that you are famous, especially among those in the PLANTs."

Before Athrun could reply the two of them heard voices, one of which Ash recognized as Lunamaria's, and the subject they were talking about was Athrun. Then four people walked in, with Lunamaria in front. They were surprised to find Athrun and Ash there as Meyrin was spooked and Lunamaria said, "Well, here we are talking about you Athrun Zala, and presto, here you are." As she walked towards the two she added, "Hey Ash."

"Lunamaria." Ash acknowledged. When Lunamaria was near Athrun she said, "It really is an honor to meet a legendary ace like you here."

Predictably, Athrun denied it saying, "You're mistaken me for someone else. My name's Alex Dino." Ash smirked and thought, 'Oh dear, things are going to be hard for him now that the Chairman's figured him out."

"So is that why you don't pilot mobile suits anymore?" Lunamaria asked.

"Stop it Luna," Shinn interrupted, "Who cares about people from Orb? They've got no idea what's going on." Ash felt insulted by that and so he called out, "Wait Shinn!"

Shinn turned back as he was heading out and came back in saying, "What?"

Ash said calmly, "You know, you should apologize to Yuna for that incident back at Armory One."

Shinn didn't have a clue what he was talking about at first and Ash saw it on his face. He smiled and went on, "Don't tell me you forgot? Oh dear, that's no good, Yuna never forgot that incident, where you groped her as the two of you bumped into each other, remember?"

At that everyone looked at him with curious looks and Shinn's face paled a bit as he finally remembered. Lunamaria gave him a look and said, "Now that's interesting…"

Shinn stuttered, "Oh, well, I, uh, I'll apologize to her when I, uh, get the chance." With that he ran out of the room. Rey saluted and followed suit. Ash muttered, "That should teach him to keep his mouth shut. I don't like being called an idiot."

Lunamaria overheard him and laughed a bit, then she turned her attention back to Athrun and said, "Anyway, I heard that you stepped in and saved the ship when it was in danger, I thank you for that."

Then she turned to Ash and said, "Also, I'm very grateful for the assistance you and Yuna gave to us out there. Thank you very much."

"It's no problem." Ash said. Then Lunamaria left the room with Meyrin saying, "Hey, wait Sis!"

The two were alone and Ash said, "C'mon, let's head back to where Cagalli and Mayu are."

Athrun got up and said, "Sure." As the two were walking Ash sighed and mentally prepared himself for the talk with Mayu. He was pretty sure what the topic was going to be about.

* * *

_Minerva – Cagalli's room_

The four were talking with each other about the situation after Ash made sure they were in private. For some strange reason Cagalli declined to go to the Serene. She said something about waiting for the shuttle from the PLANTs and not wanting to waste their trip. Ash agreed to it and then the topic shifted to Shinn.

"So is Shinn really your brother Mayu?" Athrun asked.

"Yes, he must think I'm dead along with my parents." Mayu said sadly.

Cagalli asked, "So why didn't you tell him who you are?"

Ash answered that for Mayu, "There are a couple of reasons, one of which is that things might get sticky between ZAFT and Celestial again." When Athrun and Cagalli had puzzled looks Ash explained, "You know that Morina left ZAFT right? Well the reason she left was due to psychological trauma after Endymion. When she joined Celestial they found out that she somehow faked her way out of ZAFT and they tried to get her back. Long story short, they tried, Celestial argued, and in the end, well you can imagine."

They understood but Athrun asked, "So what does that have to do with Mayu and Shinn? I can't see how the situations are the same now."

Mayu looked down as Ash answered his question, "We're afraid that history will repeat itself, so we have to find some other way to do this discreetly." Mayu's head lowered a bit in slight disappointment. Ash noticed this and he sighed, feeling bad for her.

To everyone's surprise, Ash got up and stood in front were Mayu was sitting. She looked at him as he went down on one knee. Ash took her right hand and said, "Look Mayu, I know that we can't tell him now but I promise you, with the Representative of Orb and her bodyguard as my witness, you will get the chance to tell Shinn, no matter how long it takes. I promise on my life as an Agent of Celestial." He sealed the deal with him kissing the palm of her hand. Mayu turned beet red and she hastily withdrew her hand, speechless at his promise.

Ash sighed as he stood up. Even Athrun and Cagalli were speechless after what happened. Suddenly Meyrin's voice came on the intercom. She said, "Will Agent Ash Sakuros and Yuna Aska please report to the bridge immediately."

At that Ash went for the door and said, "Coming Mayu?"

Mayu snapped out of it and said, "Y-yes!" She was still a bit red however as Cagalli and Athrun exchanged looks.

* * *

_Minerva – captain's office_

Both Durandal and Talia were waiting with Ash and Mayu for the guests from the Serene to show up, in the form of Morina and Elena, who was under the name Lina Mire. Ash wondered if it was starting to become a trend to use names that sound similar to their real names. Durandal asked, "So your sister is also a Celestial Agent?"

"Yes, she joined a few years ago." Ash answered. Then suddenly the door opened and both Morina and Elena in their Celestial uniforms appeared at the door with a few escorts. Morina and Elena walked up to Ash and Mayu, then suddenly she hugged the both of them saying, "I'm glad you're safe you two." Ash smiled and thought, 'She must've been worried. Though if not for the Chairman and the Captain's presence she would be all over us.'

Morina let go and presented herself to Durandal and Talia, along with Elena. She said, "I'm Agent Morina Sakuros of Celestial, and this is Lina Mire, one of our pilots. I would have come alone but Lina wanted to see Ash and Yuna very badly." Elena blushed a bit at that.

Both Durandal and Talia were first surprised when they saw Elena since she was obviously a girl in her early preteens. But hearing that she was a pilot was shocking. Durandal asked, "Really… If I may ask, how old is Ms. Mire?"

Morina sighed and said, "Truthfully, she's thirteen. And before you ask any further, she became a mobile suit pilot of her own free will, right Lina?"

Elena nodded and she wrote, "I became a mobile suit pilot a few years ago, and I have never regretted my decision." She had a serious look on her face that surprised the two; they never saw such eyes in a thirteen year old girl. Durandal said, "How admirable Ms. Mire. I won't go into it; we're not here to discuss that anyway. The reason that the two of you are here is to pick up Agent Ash and Ms. Aska, isn't it?"

"Yes it is. I would like to say on behalf of Celestial, I thank you for taking care of our representatives." Morina said as she bowed.

"No, no, it's not necessary. It's more like the other way around, since those two have helped out the Minerva in her time of need. They were very helpful." Durandal said.

"Really?" Morina said, looking at Ash. He carefully avoided her gaze as he looked forward at Durandal and Talia. Durandal asked, "Oh that reminds me, are you going to take Representative Attha and her bodyguard with you?"

Ash answered, "Actually, she would like to wait onboard the Minerva for the shuttle that's coming for her. We respected her wishes and so, she won't be coming with us."

"I see. Well, that's fine with us. He turned to Ash and said, "It was nice meeting you Agent Ash Sakuros. I hope that relations between Celestial and ZAFT stay good. And it was nice meeting you too Angel of Endymion."

Ash raised an eyebrow while Mayu and Elena looked a bit confused. They knew Morina was in ZAFT as a redcoat but that's all they knew. She never talked about her past military life and with good reason. The only way anyone would talk about something like Endymion would be if they had the psychological hardness of a diamond.

Morina cringed a bit at the title and she said with a hint of bitterness, "Please Chairman, that's in the past."

"Yes, I'm sorry that I brought it up." Durandal said, catching the bitterness in her voice, "Nonetheless it's been an honor to meet you all, and I hope that we'll meet again sometime in the future." He shook hands with Ash and he replied, "You two Mr. Chairman."

Then two guards appeared at the door and the four of them left. As they walked towards the hanger Mayu was in thought, particularly over what happened earlier between her and Ash. The memory made her blush and all she thought was, 'He kissed my hand.'

Meanwhile Ash and Morina were talking to each other with Elena listening. Ash was telling her the events of what happened at Armory One. Morina said in a low whisper, "That is serious, we'd better step us security at Heaven's Reprieve. We have some of our own special projects there that would be very tempting to thieves."

That was when Lunamaria passed by and she said, "Hey Ash! Oh…" Lunamaria noticed Morina and Elena with them. Ash nudged Mayu which snapped her out of her trance and noticed Lunamaria. She said, "Hi Luna."

"Hey Yuna. So Ash, who's your friend?" Luna asked. Ash smirked and said, "This is my twin sister Morina. The little one next to her is Lina Mire." Elena pouted and she wrote, "I'm not that little!"

Lunamaria's eyes widened a bit and she said, "Wow, so she's your twin sister?" Lunamaria saluted her ZAFT style and said, "You two don't look alike. Oh, I'm Lunamaria Hawke, it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Sakuros."

Morina smiled and she returned her salute and said, "Please, call me Morina. I'm not too fond of formalities myself. I'm taking a wild guess that Ash told you about me."

"Yes he did." Lunamaria replied. That's when Ash asked, "So, what's with Shinn concerning 'that' matter?" Morina asked, "Who's Shinn?"

"Shinn Asuka, he's a pilot onboard." Ash replied. As Lunamaria told him a funny story about that Morina glanced at Mayu. She noticed and nodded, making Morina think, 'Oh boy, we're going to have a talk about that later.'

Then Ash invited, "We're heading for the hanger to board a shuttle back to the Serene. Why don't you come and see us off?"

"Sure, I don't mind." Lunamaria said. So they walked together to the hanger talking about stuff. Lunamaria was surprised, like Durandal and Talia, to hear that Elena was a mobile suit pilot at the age of thirteen. She thought that it was quite an amazing achievement for her with made Elena quite happy. When Mayu mentioned that she was the leader of the mobile suit team on the Serene, she wasn't as surprised, explaining that she had an air like that around her during the battle between them and the three prototypes. Even though Mayu was younger than her Lunamaria felt that she was an excellent leader, considering what happened. They talked about other things for a bit until they reached the hanger.

* * *

_Minerva – hanger_

The five of them were standing in front of the shuttle as Lunamaria said, "Well, it was nice to meet you Morina, Elena. I hope to meet you all again someday."

"Same here." Mayu said. The two of them shook hands with each other and with that Lunamaria cleared the hanger as the shuttle was preparing for launch. In the cockpit section Morina was in the driver's seat preparing for launch. Mayu and Elena were in the passenger's section, with Elena's head resting on Mayu's shoulder. Ash just appeared in the cockpit and sat in the other seat helping Morina prepare for launch.

As the shuttle got into position Meyrin's voice came on saying, "You're clear to launch."

"Thanks Ms. Hawke, or do you prefer Meyrin?" Ash replied.

"Meyrin is fine Agent Sakuros." Meyrin replied. Ash then said, "Well thanks again Meyrin, and I hope that we can meet again and have a proper chat." With that he closed the link and he said, "Well, let's get going."

"Right." Morina said as the shuttle took off. When it was in space it headed straight for the Serene. Morina contacted them saying, "I have Ash and Mayu onboard. Could you please let us in?"

Marianne's voice came on saying, "We're opening the catapult Morina, and we're ready to receive you."

"Marianne? Why are you on the line? Where's Terence?" Morina asked.

"Uh, last I heard he wasn't feeling so well, so he's resting in his room." Marianne said. Captain Natarle's also in her quarters so it's only me, Kain, and Lusia on the bridge. Everyone else was let off for the night."

"Okay." Morina said, "We're coming in now." She maneuvered the shuttle into position and it was on its way into the hanger. She put it on autopilot and Morina said, "You know, I'm really glad that the two of you are alright Ash."

Ash looked at her and said, "You know, you should have a little more faith in us. Mayu and I are professionally trained to take care of ourselves."

"I know, but I still worry big brother." Morina said.

Back in the passenger section Mayu was looking out the window. Elena had fallen asleep on Mayu's shoulder but she didn't notice. Mayu's thoughts were on her brother Shinn and the promise Ash made to her. She knew that Ash would keep his promise; he always did when he made a promise, and this was talking from experience. It pained her that she couldn't tell Shinn that she was alive, but knew it was going to happen someday. But for now she would wait.

She thought to herself, 'Shinn sure has changed over the years; he's not the same person that I knew two years ago. Then again, I have changed too. I never would have thought that I would become a mobile suit pilot, much less a leader of a mobile suit team. To think that two years ago both of us were Orb civilians, now we're pilots on two different sides.' Then she felt her shoulder where her artificial arm was attached and rubbed it gently.

* * *

_Heaven's Reprieve – observation satellite_

"Hey, come take a look at this." A Celestial member said.

"What is it Sean?" His friend, Christopher Colasour asked.

"Check this out. This is the data concerning the ruins of Junius Seven." Sean said, "From what I can see Junius Seven is definitely out of orbit. From the projected course, it's on it's way to Earth!"

"What? No way, if it is then we need to alert HQ about this!" Christopher shouted.

"I'm already on it." Sean said. He contacted the HQ in the colony saying, "HQ, do you copy? We have a major problem on our hands…"


	9. Hate of Junius

Chapter 9 – Hate of Junius

_Serene – bridge_

Marianne was half asleep when the communications monitor beeped. Kain and Lusia were asleep in their seats strapped to them, to make sure they didn't float off in their sleep. Marianne woke up to the beeping and she rubbed her eyes when she accessed the terminal. There was a message from Heaven's Reprieve and what was in the message instantly snapped her awake. She slapped herself and thought, 'This is really serious. I better call the Captain and the Agents to the bridge.'

The first thing she did however was wake up Kain and Lusia. Kain woke up without much trouble but Lusia was a deep sleeper. It took a bit longer to wake her up but Lusia finally got up. They were still half asleep, but when they read the message that Junius Seven was heading for Earth they woke up and became fully alert. After that Marianne called Natarle, Ash, and Morina to the bridge.

Ten minutes later the three were on the bridge looking a bit groggy. Natarle asked, "What's the problem?"

"There's an urgent message from Heaven's Reprieve ma'am. You need to take a look at it." Marianne replied.

The three went over to the terminal and they read the message. Like Kain and Lusia, they became fully aware of the situation. Morina said, "Marianne, call all our pilots and the rest of our bridge crew now."

"Yes ma'am." Marianne said. Since most of the crew was sleeping at this time she called all of them individually. About twenty minutes later everyone was on the bridge, some were fully dressed while others were in robes. Mayu and Elena had removed their colored contacts and were some of the few that were in uniform. They all gathered together and everyone took their positions with Antino asking, "Ugh, why did you wake us up so early?"

Both Ash and Morina gave the group serious looks which made them alert, they never looked at them that way unless it was really serious. They paid attention as Ash said, "We just received a message from Heaven's Reprieve. They say that Junius Seven's orbit has been altered and is heading straight for Earth."

Everyone present was shocked except for those that already knew. Ash continued, "Celestial has already begun preparations to deal with the aftermath, if it hits Earth. ZAFT is already aware of this and has deployed it's forces to break the colony up. As for us we're heading over there too to support them. I'm also pretty sure that the Minerva is heading that way too, considering our location."

All of them nodded and Asagi asked, "So we're just going out to support the ZAFT teams?"

"Yeah, but I have a bad feeling out there so make sure your machines are fully armed." Ash said. Silenna stepped up and said, "So you think that this was deliberate?"

Morina answered, "We're not too sure, but it's better to be safe than sorry out there since we don't know what's happening." She sighed and added, "To us it seems that incidents are twenty five percent coincidence, and seventy five percent deliberate. Let's just hope that this whole thing's a coincidence."

Ash looked at her and then back to everyone, "I'm going back to the Minerva to have a talk with Chairman Durandal." He walked towards the door, turned around, and said, "You coming Mayu?"

Mayu stood there for a second until she said, "Yes!" and she followed him off the bridge. Silenna whispered to Luri, "She has a thing for him, doesn't she."

"It looks like it." Luri whispered back.

Morina didn't like what she was hearing so she said, "All pilots are to be on standby. Oh and Marianne, tell the mechanics to unseal the Justice and the Freedom." Everyone was surprised at that and Morina noticed, so she explained, "This is a serious situation; we need all available hands out there, so that means that me and Ash are going out as well."

Marianne nodded and she said, "Roger that ma'am." All the pilots nodded and they left the bridge. That's when Natarle asked, "Are you sure about unsealing the Justice and the Freedom?"

"I'm pretty sure. My female intuition tells me that we should be prepared for anything. In a situation like this, there's no such thing as overkill." Morina said.

Natarle sighed but didn't say anything, since she knew that Morina's intuition was quite accurate at times. Instead she said, "Terence, please inform the Minerva that Agent Ash is requesting to meet with Chairman Durandal. Also, tell the mechanics to unseal the Justice and the Freedom from their containers."

"At once ma'am." Terence said as he got to work. Morina looked out into space thinking, 'I hope that Aunt Nana and the others will be alright.'

* * *

_Minerva – meeting room_

Durandal and Talia were with Cagalli and Athrun discussing the issue with Junius Seven. That's when Ash and Mayu, who was back in her disguise, but in her Celestial uniform, entered the room. Durandal greeted them saying, "Ah, Agent Sakuros, and Ms. Aska, I see that you made it."

"So, what did we miss?" Ash asked half-jokingly as he sat down beside Cagalli. Durandal smiled and said, "Oh not much, just how Junius Seven has gone out of orbit."

"So I heard, we got the message from the observers at Heaven's Reprieve about it." Ash said, "So what are the PLANTs doing about it Mr. Chairman?"

"We are devoting all our resources on stopping it and also determining what exactly happened. We aren't sure what exactly happened but we will get to the bottom of this." Durandal turned to Cagalli and said, "I'm sorry it's inconvenient for you princess, but I've ordered this ship to head for Junius Seven after the repairs are complete. Fortunately we don't have very far to travel. I take it the Serene is heading for Junius Seven as well?"

"Yes it is, we want to stop this thing is as much as you do but the Serene is the only ship close enough to do anything about it." Ash replied. Talia looked at Cagalli and said, "We are trying to contact Orb, so you can talk with your homeland. I hope that you can bear with us for the time being."

"I understand," Cagalli said. Then she got a bit frantic and said, "Please, if there's anything I can do to help you please ask. We're the ones who-, uh, I mean, this matter concerns us all."

"Thank you for your concern princess, but please stay calm. Rest assured that we will ask you for help should the need arise." Durandal said.

With that the meeting ended and Durandal let the four of them go. As they left Mayu thought, 'Well, that was a bit awkward for Cagalli.'

* * *

_Minerva – hallway_

The four were walking down the Minerva's hall, with Ash and Mayu walking Cagalli and Athrun back to their room. Ash said tiredly, "Man, just one thing after another huh?"

Cagalli looked at Athrun and asked, "So what do we do about it Athrun?"

After a moment of silence Athrun replied, "Just break it up."

Cagalli was a bit stunned while Ash said, "Sounds just about right. Breaking it up would most likely stop it in it's tracks, considering the shock that would go through the thing once it breaks apart."

Mayu asked, "Uh Ash, what do we have as a last resort option? I mean if something goes wrong?"

Ash answered her in a low voice, "If something goes horribly wrong we'll send a nuclear bomb on the Serene to the core of the ruins."

The three looked at him in shock as they stopped in their tracks. Ash looked at them as Cagalli said, "But Ash-!"

"I know, but we will only use it as a _very_ last resort option. Using it may be a insult to the tragedy but in this case, we need every option open. Although if the ruins get close enough to Earth, we can't use that option anyway, due to the radiation from the aftereffects." Ash explained.

All of their looks softened and as they continued walking Athrun asked in a whisper, "So, where did you get the bomb?"

"We have two nuclear reactors stored in the Serene." Ash whispered, "We're having one of them modified into a makeshift bomb just in case. If whatever operation ZAFT is doing pulls through, well it'll be converted back."

"I see." Athrun said. Cagalli asked, "What would you need them for anyway?"

"Well, they are useful as temporary power plants in some desolate areas where Celestial works in." Ash replied. As they walked they passed by a room where they heard a voice say, "Yeah, and how do you smash something that big?"

The four stopped to listen as they hear Meyrin's voice say in sorrow, "And what about the victims? It's filled with the bodies of those who died."

Ash looked at Athrun and they understood. Even though Lenore is still alive the place was the resting place for a lot of people. Mayu lowered her head and thought, 'But we have no choice, the dead would want the living to keep on living.' Her thoughts wandered through all the things she'd seen as a member of Celestial.

That was when they heard Yolant say, "Oh well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. It's out of our hands." Everyone's eyes narrowed as he continued, "Hey, look on the bright side, this will take care of a lot of hassles for us and things will be better for the PLANTs."

Cagalli got angry at that and she shouted, "How can you say those things?!" As she stormed in Athrun was about to call out to her when Ash looked at him and said, "I'll take care of this.

When Cagalli was about to continue shouting Ash put his hand on her and he said, "Let me take care of this."

"But Ash-!" Cagalli started but his stare made her silent as he repeated, "Let me take care of this, okay?"

Cagalli fell silent as Ash said, "Please don't joke around about situations like this. I know things are still rough between Earth and the PLANTs but you shouldn't say things like that."

"I'm sorry." Yolant said. Ash smiled and said, "Please be more careful in what you say, okay? Everyone interprets words in their own way you know. But it's not good to joke around about life and death situations like this one."

"Yes sir!" Yolant said. Everyone relaxed except Cagalli, who looked like she was ready to rip someone's heart out. That's when Ash suggested to Athrun, "I think you should take her to her quarters before she blows a blood vessel Alex."

"I understand." Athrun said. He steered Cagalli out of the room and she still looked like her blood was on fire. After they left Ash turned back to them and said, "Whew, now that's taken care of." He spotted Shinn he remembered how he acted towards Cagalli back in the hanger. This made him curious and asked, "Excuse me Shinn, may I ask you something?"

Shinn looked at him and said, "What is it?"

"Before the battle in that debris field, I saw that look you gave Representative Attha. Do you have something against her?" Ash asked.

Shinn reacted to his question in controlled anger. But his anger suddenly exploded shouting, "Yes I do! I lost my entire family because of the Atthas!" Mayu covered her mouth in shock as he went on, "They believed in their ideals, and in the end, they were killed at Onogoro! That's why I will never believe a word she says, and I will never believe in Orb!"

Mayu was in total shock, she had never heard her brother look and sound so angry. She quickly removed her hands from her mouth and tried to keep a neutral face. Unknown to them Cagalli was still listening at the door and was shocked to hear Shinn's story. She had her hand to her mouth as Athrun escorted her back to her quarters.

Ash sighed and said, "I see, so that's what happened." Suddenly Mayu's left arm started to hurt and she said, "Ouch."

Ash looked at her and he asked, "Something wrong?"

"My prosthetic hurts a bit." Mayu replied. Both of them sat down and he said, "Let me take a look. Everyone around gathered as Mayu took off her overcoat and they saw that Mayu had an artificial arm all the way to her elbow, even though it was disguised quite neatly. Lunamaria asked, "What happened?"

Mayu looked at Ash and he nodded. She knew she couldn't say everything so she answered, "I lost my arm at the battle of Orb on Onogoro, back in 71."

Shinn suddenly paid more attention in particular as Mayu continued, "Me and my family were heading for the transport when a stray shot from one of the Earth Alliance's mobile suits hit near the area we were at. My parents died in that blast while I was hurt really bad. If not for Ash and Morina who came around I probably would have died."

Mayu's story shook Shinn up pretty bad as the memories came back to him. It sounded like his story, although unknown to him she was telling his story from her point of view and omitting Shinn from it. He couldn't help but feel really bad for some reason. Lunamaria said, "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay; I've already come to terms with it and moved on." Mayu said. Ash finished checking her prosthetic and said, "I think that we need to get Dr. Muris to look at it once we get back to Orb."

"Okay." Mayu said as she put her overcoat back on. Both of them got up and he said, "Well, we'd better get back to the Serene." As both of them walked out they said, "Later." The place was silent as others got up and went back to their posts.

Lunamaria looked at Shinn and said, "You know, you and Yuna sure have a few things in common." With that she left the room. Shinn was standing by the window looking out into space, going over what Mayu said.

* * *

_Serene – hanger_

When the two got back they found the hanger quite busy as everyone was in their pilot suits getting their machines ready. When they floated by the Justice and Freedom they found Morina suited up and going over the Justice's systems. Morina spotted them and said, "Hey you guys, how did it go?"

"It went smoothly." Mayu said before Ash could answer. Morina raised her eyebrow and said, "Oh, alright. The two of you better get suited up. Oh, and Ash, we need to go over a quick two minute simulation. It's been a while since we piloted these two, you know."

"Gotcha." Ash said. The two went for the changing rooms and as the were in front of the doors Mayu asked, "Are we going to succeed?"

"We have to; people's lives are depending on it." Ash said softly.

"Right." Mayu said firmly as the two went into the change rooms.

After a while the two came out and went over their respective machines. Ash was about to climb into the Freedom when he said, "We only piloted these two only twice, not to mention that we spent six months training to use them to their fullest."

"Yeah, but we aren't no Kira or Athrun though." Morina said.

"Did we ever claim to be?" Ash said. The two laughed a bit before climbing into their cockpits. Meanwhile Mayu was busy looking over the Strike E's systems, making sure that they were alright. That's when Elena appeared on one of her monitors and her notepad said, "Are you alright Mayu?"

"I'm fine Elena." Mayu said softly. Elena nodded as Silenna and Luri's faces appeared on her other monitors. "So we're going to help ZAFT stop Junius Seven huh?" Luri said.

"Yeah, although I never thought we'd be working with ZAFT though." Silenna replied. Elena nodded and Mayu said, "From what I heard we're just supporting the demolition teams that are out there. But Ash and Morina are expecting something to happen out there. That's why were being fully armed."

"I bet Morina said that it was her female intuition." Luri said.

"I know, she thinks that her intuition is better than ours." Silenna said with a smirk.

"Enough talk, just get your machines ready you two." Mayu snapped. The three girls gave a salute and signed off. Then she contacted Synar, Antino, and Kazuki, with their faces appearing on her screens. She asked, "Are you guys ready?"

"I'm fine here." Synar told her.

"Everything's working like it's supposed to." Antino replied.

"Just finished adjusting some of the parameters." Kazuki reported.

"Alright then." Mayu said as she cut the communications. Then she contacted Asagi, Juri, Mayura, and Flay. As their faces came on she heard that they were in the middle of talking. She heard Asagi asked, "So what are you going to do when Lowe comes back Juri?"

"What are you talking about?" Juri said, looking a bit flustered.

"Don't play dumb, I know you're excited to show Lowe your new Astray when he comes back and visits Celestial." Mayura teased.

Juri called to Flay, "Hey Flay, you gotta help me here!"

Flay had an odd look on her face as she replied, "Uh, sorry Juri, I still got to adjust the OS for the small modifications NIRUS did to the Strike's hydraulics system." Mayu was still amazed how far Flay had come. From what she heard from her history she wasn't even a bridge officer back in the Earth Forces. But thanks to her training with Celestial, or in some cases, Natalie, Flay was able to pilot and maintain her mobile suit.

Mayu decided to interrupt their little chat by saying, "It's nice to hear such a discussion but shouldn't you girls be checking your machines like Flay is?"

The three of them were quite surprised to see Mayu on the line and Asagi said, "Oh Mayu! We didn't see you there. The three of us are already done checking and Flay's just tweaking her OS for NIRUS again."

Mayu was about to say something when Marianne's voice came on saying, "We have detected heat signatures at Junius Seven, there's a battle going on there. The enemy has been identified as GINN High Maneuver Type Is and IIs. All pilots are to prepare for launch."

"Well, it looks like my intuition was correct." Morina's voice said as her face appeared onscreen. Mayu cut the links with the other girls as Morina briefed them, "As you heard, the enemies are all GINN HM Is and IIs that aren't sending ZAFT IFF signals. From the situation they're probably the ones that caused all this, so lethal force is authorized against them."

Ash came on saying, "We need this mission to be completed at all costs, understood?"

"Yes sir!" All of the pilots replied.

All of the machines were getting ready for launch, with Mayu's Strike Noir and Elena's Rosso Aegis being the first ones sent out. Marianne's voice said, "You are clear to launch Mayu."

"Mayu Asuka, Strike Noir launching!" Mayu shouted as the Strike Noir was launched, followed by the Rosso Aegis. The other machines except for the Justice and Freedom were launched and the group with the Strike Noir at the front headed out for Junius Seven.

They were joined by the Impulse, Halo, and the two ZAKUs. Mayu noticed the Halo with it's Force Silhouette pack and thought, 'Who's piloting it?'

In the Halo's cockpit Athrun was going over what happened earlier. After seeing that Cagalli was asleep Athrun headed for the bridge to borrow a mobile suit. Talia argued that she wouldn't be able to lend a mobile suit to civilians like him with Ash and Mayu's case being special. Durandal gave Athrun permission and told him to take the Halo out to support the demolition teams. Now he was out here armed with the Force Silhouette since they heard that the demolition teams were under attack.

As they approached Lunamaria was admiring Celestial's mobile suits. She said, "Wow, look at all those machines! They're quite impressive, I wonder which machine Yuna's in?"

That was when Mayu's voice came on in the Minerva's machines saying, "Everyone in Celestial will take on those GINNs, can you guys rescue the demolition teams?"

"We can do that." Athrun said. Shinn also said, "The stolen prototypes are also here, be on guard."

"Roger that Shinn." Mayu said as she cut the link.

Shinn was uneasy seeing Mayu on the battlefield but he focused on the task at hand, reminding himself that the girl wasn't his sister. Mayu also took a deep breath and said, "Alright people, let's go!"

"Roger!" Everyone shouted as they blasted off to Junius Seven.

* * *

_Junius Seven – battlefield_

Dearka was busy blasting his cannon at the GINNs who were dodging all his shots. He got frustrated as he said, "Man, these guys are frickin' experts!"

Yzak managed to get there and was busy fighting off the GINNs when the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss appeared on the battlefield and started shooting at everything. Yzak said, "What the?! Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss?! What the heck are they doing here?!"

The Abyss aimed it's arsenal at one of the Meteor Breakers and just before it fired the Rosso Aegis in it's mobile armor form sped in and transformed to block the shot aimed at the Meteor Breaker. The Breaker was saved but the team was shredded to pieces. Both Yzak and Dearka were surprised as Yzak shouted, "Is that the Aegis?!"

Dearka noticed the symbol on the Rosso Aegis' shoulders and said, "That's Celestial's symbol."

"So they're here to help huh?" As Yzak said this Celestial's other machines showed up and splintered off in groups of two and three to engage the GINNs. Yzak had already been informed that Celestial was lending it's aid in the demolition and was fine with that. Dearka noticed and said, "So it's true, check out that tricked out Buster, and the Duel too."

"We don't have time to gawk at them Dearka, we have a job to do!" Yzak said as he blasted off to engage a group of HM Type Is. Dearka sighed and said, "What I wouldn't give to pilot the Buster again." He turned and fired a shot at incoming HM Type IIs.

Mayu finished off a HM Type II as she looked around. Elena in her Rosso Aegis was with her and thought, 'They're way too many High Maneuver Types here. Something's up.' She watched as the Impulse and the others engage the stolen prototypes. Mayu wasn't paying attention and a GINN snuck up on her, she couldn't react in time and it was about to bring it's beam rifle up when it was suddenly shot down.

Several more shots rained down on the battlefield destroying several GINNs. Mayu and Elena looked up to see the Justice and Freedom fly into the battlefield. Ash called Mayu from the Freedom saying, "Pay attention Mayu, these guys can shoot you down the moment they get their chance." Ash activated Full Burst Mode and took out three more GINNs with the Justice taking out another two.

Apparently the appearance of the Justice and Freedom shocked everyone on the battlefield. ZAFT had heard rumors that Celestial had built their own Justice and Freedom but most of them didn't believe them. Now with their appearance everyone believe the rumors. The terrorists were caught off guard for a second before resuming their attack. Yzak said, "What the?! The Justice and Freedom? Athrun!"

"What the heck are you taking about Yzak?" Dearka asked as he blasted another GINN, "Athrun can't be here, not to mention that he self-detonated his own Justice to destroy GENESIS."

"Oh, right." Yzak said as he fired at the Abyss as it came around. On the Minerva's bridge everyone was also surprised at the appearance of the Justice and Freedom. Arthur said, "I can't believe it, it's the Justice and Freedom!"

"So the rumors are true." Talia said. She thought, 'I wonder where Celestial got them, and for what purpose?'

Back on the battlefield, as the Aile Strike shot down another GINN HM Type I Flay noticed a certain insignia on the GINN's hand. When she took a closer look she recognized and she called Ash saying, "Ash come in!"

"What is it Flay?" Ash said as he shot down another GINN. Flay replied, "Those GINN HM Type Is, I think they're the Awakened!"

"What was that?!" Ash said in surprise as he took on another GINN HM Type. He put away his rifle and took out both his sabers and pointed them at the GINN. When he sliced his hands off he saw the Awakened's symbol on the GINN's wrists. Celestial had heard a rumor that the Awakened was made up of former ZAFT soldiers that deserted after the Second Battle of Jachin Due and that's why their pilots were very good. The rumor would at least explain how they got their hands on some state of the art technology from ZAFT back then.

Asagi came on and said, "I think that Flay's right Ash, all the High Maneuver Type Is all have the Awakened's insignias."

Morina came on and said, "No matter, our objective's still the same, to either stall or eliminate the enemy. So move out!" The Justice just tore apart a HM Type II with it's beam sabers as Morina finished talking.

Mayu and Elena joined up with Ash and Morina as Mayu said, "This was deliberately done, wasn't it?" The Strike Noir fired it's linear guns at a nearby GINN tearing it in half. The Rosso Aegis followed up with it's Scylla cannon, hitting the GINN behind it.

"Yeah, and if I didn't know any better this was done by extremists." Morina said as she dodged fire from more incoming GINNs.

In another area the Nero Blitz and the Blu Duel were engaging the Abyss with Rey's ZAKU while the Verde Buster and Claymore were helping Athrun with the Chaos. Sting and Auel were getting really frustrated and Sting said, "These guys from Celestial are crazy! I thought they were a humanitarian organization!"

Meanwhile Rey was impressed with the pilots of the Nero Blitz and Blu Duel. Even though they weren't communicating with him they were working together with him in a solid form. To him, this was quite the show of skill, and was glad that they were there with him.

The Strike and Barrett were busy helping Lunamaria with the Gaia. Since Lunamaria had lost her Gunner pack she was at a slight disadvantage. That's when the two intervened and both Flay and Luri fired their rifles and cannons at it, sending it back a bit. Lunamaria called to them and said, "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem," Flay said. The Gaia came around and started charging at them in it's mobile armor mode, firing it's rifle and cannons. The three split up, with the Aile Strike and Barrett shooting at the Gaia to confuse it.

Mayu was watching the battlefield as she sliced a HM Type II in half with the Strike Noir's Fragarach beam blade. As the battle went on she thought, 'I hope everyone on Earth is alright.'

* * *

_Orb – Celestial's underground facility_

All of Celestial's employees and members were in the facility as everything from Celestial's Headquarters was moved to the storage areas in the facility. Some of the people couldn't help but feel that this was a case of déjà vu, since it felt like what happened back in 71 all over again. The people shrugged it off as they continued to work.

In the facility's main control room Mayumi was with Natalie, Liana, Via, Lenore, Nanami, and a few others with Mayumi looking over the situation. Under her direct orders she had all available space convoys launch from Heaven's Reprieve and Earth full of relief supplies in the case that Junius Seven does fall to Earth. The convoys would be stationed in high orbit around the Earth under Mirage Colloid since they would be of no help at Junius Seven. Mayumi also wanted the other four other Modified-Archangel-class ships to launch but she received word that they ran into problems and they wouldn't be able make it in time.

Via and Lenore looked worried and Nanami was also a bit on edge. Natalie and Liana were looking over the supply details as one employee came in and reported, "Everything has been transported from headquarters Ms. President."

Mayumi nodded and said, "I see. Thank you for your report."

"Ma'am!" The employee saluted and left the room. Nanami was looking over one of the terminals and said, "Ms. President, all bases have reported locking down and everything's secure. Some of the base have civilians in them though."

"That's fine." Mayumi said. She felt a bit tired ever since the report that Junius Seven was heading for Earth had come from Heaven's Reprieve. The entire organization was buzzing with activity as Mayumi had a contingency plan drawn out. She notice Via and Lenore's worried looks and she said, "You two should calm down. The two of you should know that they're going to be alright. Kira, Caridad, and the others should be fine in the underground shelter under the Reverend's church. As for Athrun and Cagalli, they can take care of themselves, and you know it."

The two of them sighed and Via said, "I know, but we just couldn't help but worry." Lenore was a bit distraught, since it was her former home that was being dropped on Earth. Nanami came over and grabbed the two by the shoulders saying, "Let's go over the files again, it might take your mind off of things."

Both Via and Lenore looked at each other for a second before nodding. As the three went to the terminals Mayumi was busy looking at the monitor showing the projected course of Junius Seven. All she could think of is, 'I hope that the operation is a success.' With that she went back to work trying to contain the situation.'

* * *

_Junius Seven – battlefield_

Everyone was busy fighting when suddenly Junius Seven started to shake. Everyone stopped fighting to see Junius Seven break in half. The crack ran throughout the ruins and in a flash, the ruins broke in half. The larger part of the ruins stopped moving but the other piece continued to fall. As the Girty Lue recalled their machines Mayu couldn't help but think, 'This isn't over yet.'

That was true when Athrun flew the Halo to where Yzak and Dearka were escorting another Meteor Breaker. Mayu and Ash followed as the other kept the remaining GINNs at bay. Ash got into the communication line as the two heard Athrun say, "We need to break it into smaller pieces."

As they heard the exchange between Athrun and Yzak Dearka noticed the Freedom and the Strike Noir approaching. He contacted them saying, "Hey, who are you guys?"

Ash was a bit surprised at the communication and as the two fell into formation Ash said, "I'm Agent Ash Sakuros of Celestial International, pilot of the Freedom. The one in the Strike Noir is Yuna Aska."

Dearka raised an eyebrow and asked, "Wasn't Kira Yamato pilot of the Freedom."

"This is one Celestial built and unlike Kira, I had to train for over half a year getting used to piloting this thing." Ash said.

Yzak listened in on the conversation and was a bit surprised. However they couldn't continue since a group of GINN HM Type IIs started firing. Everyone turned to engaged them as Ash blocked the shots to the Breaker with the Freedom's shield. In time the GINNs were all defeated as they all went back to escorting the Breaker.

Auel noticed them and said, "There's five more!" Ignoring the fact that two of them were Celestial machines he opened fire on them. The shots missed but the Freedom turned around and fired a full burst at the Abyss, causing it to dodge.

Athrun and Yzak went forward to engage. Mayu was about to follow when Ash said, "Let's get this Breaker set up, those two can handle themselves, right?"

"That's right." Dearka replied. As the Abyss and Chaos were being engaged Ash and Mayu helped Dearka set up the Meteor Breaker. A minute later it was drilling into the ruins. At that same moment the Girty Lue sent out a retreat signal for their three machines.

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

Natarle was looking over the situation as Morina appeared on screen saying, "Junius Seven is breaking up, but not into small enough pieces."

Natarle nodded as she said, "I see, I guess we don't have much of a choice. We'll just have to do reentry while firing the Lohengrin cannons at the debris." Everyone was shocked as Marianne said, "Are you serious captain?"

"Yes, I am. We have to destroy the larger pieces still falling to Earth, people's lives depend on it." The bridge crew nodded in acknowledgement as she then ordered, "Have all of our machines called back. And contact the Minerva to tell them what we're about to do. Have all hands prepare for reentry procedures."

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone shouted. Morina smirked and said, "Well, since the nuclear bomb option was thrown out the window, I guess we don't have much of a choice."

As she disappeared from the monitor Terence said, "Message from the Minerva. They are going to do the same thing with their positron cannon."

Natarle smiled and said, "That captain, I guess she came to the same conclusion."

* * *

_Junius Seven_

As the pieces start to fall on Earth Shinn looked around and saw the Freedom, Strike Noir, and the Halo around a Meteor Breaker. Shinn called to them asking, "What are you doing? We've been called back, you should've received word or something. Even you two were called back."

"We know that!" Mayu said. Shinn was a bit surprised to hear Mayu's voice from the Strike Noir. Athrun said, "You better get back to the ship Shinn."

"What the heck are you talking about?! You're gonna get blown up too!." Shinn shouted back.

That's when the Justice came by and Morina said, "The Minerva and Serene are going to use their positron cannons on this thing but I don't think it will be enough. Isn't that why you're here Athrun?"

"Yeah." Athrun said as he continued setting it up. As the ground started to shake the Impulse went over and held on to the breaker asking, "Why is a person like you want to be on Orb's side?"

Mayu answered that for Athrun, "Because there's something in Orb that is precious to him."

Shinn was a bit puzzled when suddenly beam fire rained down on them. The Justice raised it's shield as they saw about a dozen GINN HM Type I and IIs appear in the distance. Ash took command and said, "You guys hold them off. I'll finish this." Athrun was about to argue when a beam shot came his way. He said, "Fine then." The Freedom took the Halo's place and held on to it to keep it in place. Everyone else blasted off to engage the GINNs as Ash finished with the Meteor Breaker.

After a few GINNs fell Ash had finished with the Meteor Breaker and it started drilling. With that done he rejoined the fight only to see a GINN self-destruct on Shinn. He saw that he was dazed and Ash went over to see if he was alright but was blocked by a couple of GINNs he made quick work of them and he rushed over to the Impulse asking, "Hey Shinn, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Shinn said, regaining his senses.

Meanwhile Athrun, Mayu, and Morina were busy engaging another group of GINNs. Morina was busy engaging a particularly hard GINN HM Type II and she heard the pilot say, "Oh how the great Justice and Freedom have fallen!"

"That voice! You're Sato aren't you?!" Morina shouted.

"Now this is a surprise, the Fallen Angel of Endymion is here." Sato said with disgust, "I'll see to it that you rot in hell you damn traitor!"

"I'm no traitor!" Morina shouted as she swung her saber at the GINN but missed. She thought, 'Tch, we don't have time for this.'

Then the Halo was ganged up on as three GINNs went for him. He managed to get rid of them but he lost the Halo's rifle arm and lower left leg in the fight. Somehow the GINNs somehow swung their swords hard in between the Halo's joints where the VPS armor was weaker. Sato's GINN slashed it's sword down on the Justice as he shouted, "The successors of Clyne have deceived us! They have weakened ZAFT!"

Mayu couldn't believe what she was hearing as she slashed another GINN into two. She said, "What is this guy saying?!"

As the Justice traded blows with the GINN Sato went on, "You are all laughing with those damn butchers! Patrick Zala knew it all along, the only true path for coordinators is the one that he had chosen for us!"

"Shut you're damn mouth!" Morina screamed as she sent a kick to the GINN's chest, sending it flying. Athrun was disturbed by that as Ash said, "Don't listen to this lunatic!" as he tried to shoot it down but missed. It quickly recovered and Sato screamed, "They'll suffer this time! The naturals will feel our wrath!"

"I won't let you!" Mayu screamed. The Strike Noir suddenly made a charge at it with it's beam blades. Mayu attacked so ferociously that Sato didn't have time to block as Mayu made quick slashes at him breaking the GINN's sword. Then she stabbed both her blades into the GINN, causing it to explode. Mayu was panting as she muttered, "I won't let anyone harm my home."

Everyone was slightly shocked but remembered the situation that they were in. Ash shouted, "We'd better head back now!"

They all agreed with him as the Impulse grabbed hold of the Halo's hand as the five of them blasted away from the falling ruins. But the Impulse lost it's grip on the Halo and the Halo was sent spiraling down to Earth. The Impulse followed suit as Ash said, "What the heck? Oh no, we have to go get them."

"Fine then. Mayu, try to get behind us, you don't have a shield so things might get more difficult for you." Morina said.

"I hear you." Mayu replied as she maneuvered the Strike Noir to go behind the Justice and Freedom. The three dived further into the atmosphere to catch up to Shinn and Athrun.

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

The Serene was lined up to where the huge fragment of Junius Seven was. The Minerva was in the same position some distance away. Natarle heard that everyone except Mayu, Ash, and Morina were back on the Serene. Lusia reported that both Lohengrin cannons were already charged. Marianne said, "Ma'am, if we wait any longer we can't fire!"

"I understand!" Natarle hoped that those three had enough sense to get away from the thing as she shouted, "Fire!"

Both Lohengrin cannons fired at the ruins blasting a part of it to pieces. The people on the Minerva were shocked to see them fire first but they followed suit with their own shot from the Tannhauser. They saw that the structure was still intact and both ships had enough time for one more shot. That's when both Natarle and Talia shouted at the same time, "FIRE!"

Both ships' positron cannons fired at the same time towards the debris. The result was that most of the fragment had practically been reduced to atoms. Suddenly a piece of debris struck the Serene, altering it's course. Everyone felt the shock as Natarle asked, "What the heck was that?"

"A piece of debris hit us ma'am. It altered our course! We're going to land someplace east of Orb!" Kain shouted.

Natarle bit her lip and thought, 'Damn, we can only hope the Minerva can rescue our other pilots.'

* * *

_Atmosphere_

The Justice, Freedom, and Strike Noir managed to catch up to Shinn. Ash contacted Shinn saying, "Hey Shinn, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Have you seen Athrun?" Shinn asked.

"We haven't seen him yet." Morina said coming on to the line. Suddenly there was a piece of metal that looked like the Halo's shield flew by them, nearly missing the Justice. Morina said, "I think that was a piece of him that flew by."

Mayu laughed and said, "Well, we better go get him." The four of them dived to get closer to him.

Meanwhile, Athrun was having trouble keeping what's left of the Halo straight. Somehow the VPS generator was malfunctioning and he knew that the Halo's thrusters weren't enough to slow it down fast enough. Athrun thought, 'Damn, something like this just had to happen.' Suddenly Shinn's voice came through in static saying, "Athrun…Athrun?!"

"Shinn is that you?!" Athrun said. Shinn replied, "Hold on, we're coming to get you!"

"No wait Shinn! Even the Impulse doesn't-, wait, what do you mean 'we'?" Athrun asked.

Ash's voice came on saying, "We're hurt Athrun, I can't believe you forgot about us."

"Ash?!" Athrun said in disbelief. Suddenly his cockpit shook and he knew something grabbed the Halo. All four machines grabbed the Halo and were now supporting it. Shinn said, "How come you have to be so noble and say something like that?!"

Athrun smiled and asked, "So what would you like me to say then?"

"Something like 'help me' you bastard!" Shinn shouted. Athrun smirked, "Fine, if that's what you want." Shinn shook it off saying, "Nah that was just an example."

The others laughed as Mayu asked, "So, what are we going to do now?"

Suddenly there was a bright light coming from above the clouds. As the five machines dipped through the clouds the Minerva came into view. Mayu's question was answered when Morina said, "I guess we'll head for the Minerva for now.

As they approached Mayu asked, "Is the Serene anywhere nearby?"

Ash and Morina looked around with Ash answering, "It doesn't look like it. For all I know it probably got knocked off course somehow. I mean considering all the debris flying around back there."

Mayu was silent as Shinn said, "Whatever, let's just head for the Minerva before we do something stupid like crash into the water."

"Yeah, yeah." Ash said casually. The four approach the Minerva with the Impulse, Halo and Strike Noir landing on it's left side while the Justice and Freedom landed on the right side.

As everyone took a breather Mayu took off her helmet and rubbed her face a bit. She remembered that she still had her contacts on since she had to change into her pilot suit pretty quickly. She reached into one of her cockpit's compartments and took out a spare uniform. Mayu put it on her lap when Meyrin contacted them to guide them into the hanger.

While all of the mobile suits were being ushered into the Minerva she couldn't help but say to herself, "The world won't forget this incident for a very long time."


	10. Harsh Aftermath

Chapter 10 – Harsh Aftermath

_Minerva – hanger_

The mechanics were amazed at the three mechs that came in after the Impulse and the Halo. They heard about the famous Justice and Freedom from the Second Battle of Jachin Due but heard that both had vanished, the Justice was self-detonated to destroy GENESIS and the Freedom, well, just vanished after the battle had ended with GENESIS' destruction. Vino said, "So those two are the Justice and Freedom huh? They are so cool!"

"Yeah, I never thought I would see either one of them up close, even if they are from Celestial." Yolant said.

Then their attention wandered to the Strike Noir and Vino said, "Hey, doesn't this kinda look like the Impulse in a way?"

"I heard that it's called the Strike Noir. From what I can tell it's some kind of upgraded form of the Strike. But guess what? The pilot of the Strike Noir is that hot girl who piloted the Halo, Yuna Aska." Yolant said.

"Seriously? Well, considering the way she piloted the Halo, I'm not really surprised." Vino observed. As the three machines powered down, their pilots came out of their cockpits and got down onto the hanger floor. Each of them was holding a spare uniform to change into. Mayu was the first to reach the ground followed by Ash and Morina. Suddenly they heard a voice shout, "Athrun!"

The three turned to the source to the voice and saw Cagalli running towards the Halo. The three followed her to where Athrun was coming down from the Halo's cockpit. As they approached the three of them saw her run up to Athrun while catching her breath. Athrun smiled at her as he saw Mayu, Ash, and Morina approach them.

Suddenly the ship shook and Mayu asked, "What was that?"

"Probably the shockwaves from the falling fragments." Morina whispered. The three of them felt really bad that something like this was happening. Not to mention that they were a bit worried about the Serene, since it somehow deviated from it's course somewhat.

Morina saw the look on Athrun's face and went over to check on him. She put her hand on his shoulder whispering, "Don't let what that lunatic say get to you. He was just one of many who couldn't move on with their grief."

"Morina." Athrun said, looking at her. Cagalli wondered what they were talking about when Meyrin's voice came on saying, "All hands, please prepare for a water landing impact."

Everyone headed out of the hanger to find a place to sit and prepare for the landing. All of the Minerva's pilots left with Mayu and the others following them. Another shockwave went through the Minerva making Mayu almost trip. As they walked Mayu hoped that Orb would be spared from the damage from the fragments.

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

The Serene made it's landing into the Pacific Ocean a bit rocky. Thanks to the Trans-Phase armor the fragment didn't do much damage to the Serene, but it did somehow knock them off course. It was supposed to land in the vicinity of the Minerva but now they were trying to figure out where they are. Natarle asked, "Have you got a fix on our location?"

"I'm still figuring that out Captain." Kain replied.

Natarle turned to Marianne, "Is the Strike Noir, Justice, or Freedom in the vicinity?"

"Sorry ma'am, I can't seem to get anything on the sensors." Marianne apologized.

"How about communications? Can we get anything through yet?" Natarle asked.

"No Captain, there's still too much dust in the air. I can't get anything through just yet." Terence reported.

Lusia reported, "Captain, one of the Lohengrin cannons has been slightly damaged. The mechanics report that it's due to a collision with one of the smaller pieces of debris."

Natarle sighed at that and said, "Make sure that all power to the Lohengrins is cut off. I don't want them to blow up on us while they're being repaired."

"Yes ma'am." Lusia said. Skyrin was a bit tired after trying to keep the Serene from crashing head first into the ocean. He looked like he was dozing off and no one wanted to disturb him. The decent was much rougher than usual, and it took a lot out of him to keep things steady. Yuuki was busy helping Kain with the navigations since she didn't have anything to do at the moment.

That was when Elena, Flay, and Asagi entered the bridge. Elena looked a bit worried but Flay and Asagi were there to support her. They walked up to Natarle who asked, "How are the others?"

"They're in their rooms. They're worried about Mayu, Ash, and Morina, other than that they're fine, just resting." Flay said. Natarle nodded and she noticed Elena looking worried, with Flay's arms around her. She smiled and said, "Don't worry Elena, you know that those three can take care of themselves." Elena returned her smile and nodded.

With that the three left the bridge as Natarle relaxed in her chair. In all her life she had never experience something like that, even when she was back on the Archangel in the Atlantic Federation. At first she thought that Celestial International was just a humanitarian organization that helped people in need. But as of late her view on that began to change. Between fighting and helping those afflicted by the war and disease, things have been pretty hectic. She wasn't expecting this much when she agreed to join Celestial, that's for sure.

She sighed as Kain said, "Ma'am, I think we've got a fix on our location."

"Really? So where are we?" Natarle asked.

"A moment please." Kain typed in a few commands and a map of the world showed up on his screen, "From the looks of things we are about fifty kilometers north of Hawaii."

Everyone was a bit surprised and Marianne joked, "Yay, let's go take a vacation then!" They all looked at her like she was crazy as Yuuki said, "In the current state the world is in Mari?"

"I was just kidding." Marianne said. Natarle cleared her throat to get their attention. She said, "Anyway, plot our course for Orb."

"Orb ma'am?" Kain asked.

Natarle nodded and explained, "Mayu, Ash, and Morina are most likely with the Minerva. And since Representative Attha is onboard their course would definitely be Orb, to drop her off there and possibly make repairs. Even if they weren't onboard they would most likely make for Orb themselves."

"But doesn't Ash have a bad sense of direction when it come to long range travel?" Lusia asked.

"Morina would be the one leading them. Ash knows his weakness, and that only applies to places he hasn't visited before." Natarle said. Then she ordered, "Okay people, back to your stations."

"Yes ma'am." Everyone except Skyrin shouted. Natarle added, "Oh, and could someone please wake up Skyrin? I think he's dozing off at his post."

Marianne smiled and said, "With pleasure ma'am." They all watched as Marianne got up and walked towards Skyrin, who was half asleep in his seat. Marianne pointed her index fingers towards Skyrin's sides. Then she suddenly poked him in both his sides at the same time with her two fingers. This made Skyrin jump up from his seat screaming, "AAAHHH?! What the hell?!"

Everybody laughed as Marianne said, "Don't sleep behind the wheel Skyrin. Or else the president will rip you a new one." They all continued laughing as Skyrin shook his head and resumed his post. Even Natarle was smiling as she thought, 'I still can't believe that she and Murrue are related, they act so differently sometimes.'

* * *

_Orb – Celestial's underground facility_

Everyone in the facility had just recovered from the shockwaves that the falling fragments have caused. Mayumi and the others are regaining control of the situation as they asked various employees on the status of everything in the facility. Nanami had stepped out to check if anything was wrong herself. From what they heard so far everything was alright and that the damage to Orb itself was going to be minimal.

Mayumi was going over a very recent report that all convoys have dropped onto Earth heading for the areas most affected. She knew that they weren't able to cover all the areas affected and hoped that the nations of Earth and the PLANTs would be able to help those affected areas.

As the control room was busy with activity a ditzy looking woman was escorted into the room accompanied by a Celestial member. The member stepped up and he said, "Ms. President?"

"Yes?" Mayumi said while still looking at the terminal in front of her. The member said, "Ms. Yoon Sefan is here to see you?"

"Who?" Mayumi asked as she turned around. Then she saw Yoon standing there and she said, "Hi President Mayumi."

Mayumi was sure surprised to see Yoon standing there. She walked over and said, "Yoon, it's good to see you again." They both hugged each other, although Yoon had to bend a bit due to Mayumi's height. Mayumi asked, "How on earth did you get here?"

The reason Mayumi knew Yoon was due to the aftermath from the Battle of Orb. After she agreed to join the Junk Guild she was wandering through the ruins of Morgenroete, hauling the quantum computers around. Mayumi herself was going through the ruins with Celestial personnel when the two bumped into each other. After going though a few misunderstandings they became friends with each other, with Yoon giving Mayumi a third of the quantum computers that she had on her as a token of their friendship, though Mayumi was a bit puzzled by her act since the computers were Morgenroete's. Now the computers were in the technological department, helping Natalie with the NIRUS project, among other things.

"Well, I went to your headquarters earlier people were coming out of it. One of them grabbed me and stuffed me into a truck that had civilians in it. Then I wound up here with the other civilians." Yoon replied.

"Wait, if you came here with the civilians how come it's only now that you've come to see me?" Mayumi asked, looking confused. The member that brought her said, "I can explain that. You see I found Ms. Sefan wandering the halls and when I approached her, she asked where she could find you. So I lead her here to you ma'am."

"So you practically got lost here didn't you?" Mayumi said skeptically. All Yoon could do was smile. That was when Nanami entered the room and said, "Ms President, did you hear-?" That was when she saw Yoon and said, "Oh, I guess you did."

"Hi Nana!" Yoon said excitedly.

"Yoon, I knew it was you. When I heard from some of the employees that a ditzy-looking girl with freckles was wandering around I figured it was you." Nanami said. She gave Yoon a hug too saying, "It's been a while." Nanami was one of the personnel that was going through the ruins with Mayumi back then and the two hit it off really well.

As the two broke apart Mayumi asked, "So Yoon, what brings you to Celestial? Did the Junk Guild want something?"

Yoon replied, "Actually, I just came here to tell you that Lowe and the others are back from Mars, and they have something for you. Something about Celestial's branch on Mars…?"

Mayumi thought about it and Nanami was curious when Mayumi remembered that a whole bunch of Celestial members left for Mars about twenty years ago. One of the people that left with them was her twin sister Sakura, along with her aunt and uncle. She was sad to see her younger sister go but Mayumi's parents assured her that they'll be back one day. Now she wondered if Sakura was a Celestial member, considering her aunt and uncle were part of Celestial International back then. Mayumi asked, "So they're coming to Orb after the situation settles down?"

"That's what they told me." Yoon said. Nanami wondered about something and she asked, "When did you arrive in Orb Yoon?"

Yoon thought about it then replied, "It was about two days ago, I think."

This puzzled the two as Mayumi asked, "So why is it you came by now?"

Yoon replied sheepishly, "Well, I guess you can say I got lost? Ehehe…"

The room was silent for a second before the two sighed. Mayumi shook her head and said, "Well, might as well get back to work. You might as well stay here Yoon, I don't want you to get lost again."

"Yes Ms. President." Yoon said as she followed the two over to the terminals. As Mayumi looked over them she couldn't help but feel that this incident would lead straight to another war. She thought, 'Most likely Blue Cosmos, or more accurately, LOGOS will force the Alliance into another war. Let's just hope that we can keep the flames down as much as we could.'

* * *

_Minerva – deck_

Everyone was on the deck after the Minerva made it's water landing. Mayu, Ash, and Morina were standing together looking at the Pacific Ocean. Not far from them was Athrun and Cagalli, who were also looking at the ocean. The three were on the deck to catch a breather, since Talia wanted them to have a break before meeting with the three Celestial members. They saw what the weather was like and Mayu asked, "This is the result of the fragments falling?"

"I'm not sure," Ash replied, "I guess it's because of the dust in the air or something. Hey that reminds me…" He turned to Morina and asked, "Morina, I've been hearing that title 'Angel of Endymion' a few times already. What's the story behind it?"

Morina was quiet for a moment and the two knew that she didn't like talking about her military history with ZAFT. Then she whispered, "It's more of a nickname than a title. You see, at the battles on the moon I had a habit of swooping in and saving fellow pilots from being shot down. I guess people starting calling me that, but it was never a title."

"And that man you were fighting?" Ash pressed on.

Morina sighed and said, "He was one of the people I saved at Endymion. He was a leader of his own team and I gave him cover while he retreated from the front lines. Now I wish I hadn't done that." Ash put his hand over his sister's shoulder and said, "It ain't your fault sis, you didn't know what would happen in the future."

"Now that's interesting…" Mayu said absentmindedly. The three continued to look out to the ocean, and the storm that looked like was just over the horizon. It was pretty quiet until they heard a voice scream, "Shut up you idiot!"

Everyone turned to see Shinn standing there with an angry look on his face. Mayu's eyes narrowed as Shinn continued to shout, "You were on the bridge weren't you?! Didn't you understand what was going on out there?!"

"Shinn!" Athrun shouted. Mayu walked away from the two Sakuros with Ash whispering, "Mayu…?"

"Junius Seven didn't fall by accident, it was a deliberate act! The people who did this were coordinators!" Shinn shouted.

Cagalli was shocked by the news as Shinn went on, "Soldiers with a grudge! People who had lost their families there! They dropped it to kill all the naturals!" Cagalli stammered to say something but Shinn shouted, "You really don't know anything do you?! Just typical of an Att-!"

SMACK!

Everyone was shocked, especially Shinn, who was now sporting a red cheek. They all looked to see that Mayu had smacked Shinn across the face. She had a very angry look on her face as she shouted, "How can you say such a thing?!"

Shinn just stood there looking stunned that Mayu had just slapped him. She shouted, "Representative Attha couldn't have known the whole story, since that particular battle we were in wasn't broadcasted on the Minerva or even on the Serene! Honestly you shouldn't care what those lunatics were shouting about! And stop talking like _you_ know everything!"

She suddenly grabbed Cagalli's and Athrun's hands and dragged them away to the interior saying, "Let's go you two, this jerk ruined the mood." With one last angry stare at Shinn, Mayu left the deck pretty quickly with Cagalli and Athrun being dragged behind her.

Everyone was pretty shocked by the turn of events as Morina whispered, "You know, I've never seen her that angry ever since one of the pirates nearly killed Elena."

"Well, it does take certain things to set her off, and despite Shinn being her you-know-what, she doesn't take well to people attacking her friends." Ash whispered back. The two walked out of the deck leaving behind the crew.

In the hallways Mayu was still dragging Athrun and Cagalli to who knows where until Cagalli whispered in Mayu's ear, "Mayu…?"

Mayu snapped back to herself and she instantly let go of the two. She blushed and stammered, "Uh, I'm s-sorry."

"It's okay, let's go inside and talk." Athrun said. Ironically Mayu had just dragged them all the way to the room where the two were staying. They went inside and when Athrun made sure everything was secure he asked, "So what was that all about?"

Mayu felt embarrassed but she whispered, "Well, even though Shinn was my brother I couldn't stand the way he was talking to you Cagalli, saying that you didn't know anything, like you were supposed to know what happened."

"So what did happen out there?" Cagalli asked.

Athrun looked down and Mayu figured that he wasn't up to telling her so she said, "Well, those people out there, from what I can figure they were people loyal to Patrick Zala."

Cagalli had covered her mouth in shock while Athrun was a bit upset by what happened. Cagalli had noticed and went over to comfort him. Athrun said, "That man Morina was fighting, he said that the true path of coordinators was the one that my father had chosen."

Mayu coughed with a look of disgust on her face as she said, "Don't worry about that Athrun. Even though that guy said it, it doesn't mean that it's true. Honestly, when I first heard about it my first thoughts were, 'How delusional'. What they say doesn't excuse what they did. We make our own paths, regardless if we're a coordinator or natural."

That was when the door beeped and Ash's voice came through saying, "Athrun, Cagalli? Is Yuna with you?"

Athrun got up and went over to unlock the door. The door opened admitting Ash and Morina. Morina said to Mayu, "Let's head over to the bridge, I bet Captain Gladys is waiting for us there."

Mayu nodded and said, "Well, I guess we'll see each other later." That was when Cagalli got up and said, "Wait a minute, let me come with you. I want to see if we can get in contact with Orb now."

"Sure, but will Athrun be alright?" Morina asked. She looked at him and he replied, "I'll be fine."

"If you say so." Morina said as the four of them left the room. Athrun laid back in his chair and thought, 'We make our own path huh?'

* * *

_Minerva – bridge_

Mayu and the others entered the bridge, with Cagalli instantly going over to the communications terminal. Talia turned around and said, "Oh, Agent Sakuros. I see that you're here already."

"Yes, and with good timing. It looks like it's starting to rain." Ash said as the three walked over to where Talia was standing. Ash added, "You know, we don't mind if you call us by our first names Captain Gladys, since there are two of us."

Talia laughed and said, "Yes, I suppose you're right Agent Ash." She still added the title but they didn't mind. She said, "I heard about what happened on the deck earlier Ms. Yuna."

"Damn, news travels fast around here." Ash commented. Mayu got embarrassed as she said, "I'm terribly sorry about that Captain Gladys."

"Don't worry about it Ms. Yuna. Actually it's not much of a problem, personally I think it was good for him." Talia said.

The three had their eyebrows raised in curiosity as Talia explained, "Shinn always had a problem with his attitude. It's bearable most of the time but he does have the tendency to take it too far. Even back at the Academy he talked back to his instructors, from what I've heard."

It was all quiet so Talia changed the subject saying, "So, about your mobile suits, I've ordered the mechanics not to touch them since they're Celestial property. I hope that's alright with you."

"No problem ma'am." Morina said. At this Cagalli joined them as Talia got curious and said, "It's quite a shock to me actually, seeing the famous Justice and Freedom appear from the Serene's hangers. I'm curious, why does Celestial have those machines?"

Ash and Morina looked at each other and Morina replied, "Well, there are two reasons actually. The first one is a last defense measure. If the rest of the Serene's mobile suits were downed me and my brother would go out in them. The second reason is for intimidation purposes. The ferocity of the thieves and pirates had gotten quite vicious about a year ago, so on one of the larger raids we deployed in the Justice and Freedom. The end result was the two of us, along with Yuna and Lina, decimating the pirates. After that there hasn't been as many attempted raids as of late, since only the Serene and Relief II make the runs these days."

"I see. Well that certainly works." Talia said. Then she turned her attention to Cagalli and the two started talking. The three Celestial members moved away from them a bit and Mayu said, "So what do we do now?"

"We'll wait, with Cagalli and Athrun onboard this ship will definitely head for Orb. Let's just hope that our home is still in one piece when we get there." Ash said. Mayu and Morina nodded as they saw Cagalli and Talia go for the door. The three followed them as the two went for the elevator. Mayu, Ash, and Morina made their way to the elevator also and they caught Talia and Cagalli before the door closed. Morina said, "May we?"

"Of course." Talia said as the three got in. As the elevator went down they listened to Cagalli, who was saying that she was going to do everything in her power to see to it that the Minerva and her crew were taken care of at Orb, but she couldn't promise anything. When the elevator door opened everyone except Talia got out with Ash adding, "If Cagalli can't come through then Celestial will do something. I'm sure that the president would like to meet you Captain Gladys."

"Thank you Agent Ash, Representative Attha." Talia said with a smile as the elevator closed. As they walked Cagalli said, "I hope Kira and the others are okay."

"Don't worry," Mayu said, "I'm sure that they're going to be okay. For all I know President Mayumi herself will go over and check on them, along with Ms. Via and Ms. Lenore."

"Mother…" Cagalli said to herself. Cagalli had gotten used to Via's presence ever since their first meeting and had started calling her 'mother', unlike Kira who had trouble at first until Via straightened him out. She told him that Caridad will always be his mother, and to her anguish, said that he can call her Aunt Via if he wanted too. Cagalli was there when this happened and she heard the cringe in Via's voice when she told Kira this. Since Cagalli's foster parents were no longer alive she decided to call Via mother from now on, much to Via's joy. They learned a lot about each other over the years, along with Kira, and they grew close.

As they passed by a window the four heard gunshots and they looked out the window. They saw Rey, Lunamaria, and Meyrin practicing their shooting outside. They also saw Athrun showing Lunamaria how to shoot properly. Ash whispered to Morina, "Brings back memories sis?"

Morina gave Ash a cold look replying, "Unfortunately, and if you keep bringing it up I'm going to show you a side of me that you wish you hadn't seen."

Ash felt the chill and whispered, "Little sisters can be so scary sometimes."

"I heard that." Morina spat. Ash shook his head while Mayu and Cagalli smirked. As they continued watching Mayu noticed Cagalli had a certain look on her face. Then she got an idea and knocked on the glass, get the attention on everyone on the deck. Mayu shouted, "Hey Athrun, meet us at the hanger!"

Ash and Morina looked at each other since they didn't have a clue what Mayu was planning as she dragged Cagalli to the hanger, with the two following. On the deck Athrun became quite curious as to what Mayu was planning. Shinn heard her voice also and looked up but they were already gone. Lunamaria also became curious that she took off the equipment on her head and asked, "Hey, you don't mind if I come with you? I want to see what you guys are up to."

Athrun asked, "But what about your practice?"

"I can do it later. Shinn's here anyway and there's only three practice stands. Shinn can take my place, right Shinn?" Lunamaria asked him.

"Uh…" Was all Shinn could come up with when Lunamaria said, "See he agrees, so let's head over to the hanger!"

Lunamaria left the shooting range with Athrun not far behind her. This left Shinn standing there looking confused at what just happened while Meyrin just shrugged and continued practicing. Rey completely ignored the situation as he continued firing.

* * *

_Minerva – hanger _

Morina and Cagalli were in the hanger waiting for Athrun to show up. Mayu and Ash were in the Strike Noir and Freedom's cockpits doing something as Athrun and Lunamaria showed up. The two weren't expecting Lunamaria to show up as Morina said, "Lunamaria, aren't you supposed to be practicing at the firing range?"

"I can do that later, I'm curious what you guys are up to." Lunamaria replied. Mayu poked her head out from the Strike Noir's cockpit and said, "Everything's set up Morina!" Ash also came out of his cockpit and said, "I'm all done here Morina, everything's good to go."

"What's going on?" Athrun asked. Mayu got down from the Strike Noir and replied, "We figured that you and Cagalli needed something to take your minds off of what's happening, so we decided to let you try something."

Ash got down from the Freedom and explained, "You see, we developed a game that our pilots can play in their machines. It's called Generation Seed, and since some missions tend to get long and boring for the most part, it kills two birds with one stone: one, they get to train their pilot skills and two, it takes their minds off the boredom. This is the newest one to come out, from what I've heard."

This got Lunamaria's attention, she never heard of something like this. She said, "Can I try?" Morina and Ash looked at each other and Ash said, "I don't see the harm in it. Let's see, Cagalli in the Strike Noir, Athrun in the Justice, and Lunamaria in the Freedom. How does that sound?"

No one said a word though Lunamaria got excited that she was going to be in the cockpit of the Freedom. Ash said, "Well, seems there's no problem. Morina, Yuna, let's go."

The two nodded and Morina and Mayu led Athrun and Cagalli to their respective machines. Ash looked at Lunamaria and said, "Well, let's get going Lunamaria."

Lunamaria nodded and she followed him to the Freedom. After a few minutes Athrun, Cagalli, and Lunamaria were in the pilot seats as the game started up. Lunamaria was looking around in the cockpit of the Freedom with amazement. She said, "Wow, this looks so high tech. Even the ZAKU's cockpit isn't like this, and to think this was created and built in the war two years ago."

The four in the Strike Noir and Justice heard her since the communication lines between the three machines was open. Mayu felt a small twinge of jealousy seeing Ash and Lunamaria in the same cockpit but shook it off. Cagalli asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine." Mayu replied. Cagalli stretched a bit and said, "It's been a while since I've been in the cockpit of a mobile suit. The time at Armory One doesn't count." Mayu laughed as Athrun shook his head and sighed. In the three cockpits the game came on and a short explanation rolled down on the screen. The three in the pilot seats were a bit amused when the summary rolled through: Earth was invaded by alien machines known as the Jolnir and were trying to 'harvest' the human race. Lunamaria said, "This sounds way too weird, if you ask me."

"I know, the guys working in the technological division back at Celestial have active imaginations, if you ask me." Ash said. Then the mobile suit selection screen showed up and it had every Gundam-class mobile suit in it's library, even some they never seen like the Regenerate and the Testament. Nevertheless, the three were impressed by the selection and found it interesting that they were all 'nuclear powered', so to speak. Cagalli chose the Strike Noir, Athrun chose the Justice predictably, and Lunamaria chose the Verde Buster, considering her preferred fighting style. Ash called over to the others and asked, "So who's going to be leader?"

"I vote Athrun." Cagalli said. Lunamaria nodded agreeing, "Yeah, he's the perfect choice in my opinion."

Athrun looked at Morina and said, "I'm not going get a say in this, am I?"

"Not really," Morina said. She spoke to the others, "Okay, Athrun's squad leader. Now, could you set the mission Ash?"

"Sure." Ash leaned over and typed a few commands on the keyboard and the mission was loaded to the three machines. A mission overview and objective was given, the Jolnir had taken over ZAFT and EA mobile suit factories on the moon and were now attacking Copernicus. The objective was to hold off the enemy for thirty minutes until reinforcements arrive, with failure being the destruction of all motherships or their three mechs guarding the city. After going over the overview the scene changed to the outside of Copernicus, where they saw the allied AI units that were assisting them: two squads of Busters with a squad of Launcher Strikes, a squad of Rosso Aegis', and two squads of Aile Strikes, each headed by a IWSP Strike E, with each squad having six mobile suits each. There were also three Archangel-class ships guarding the area around the area, each designated as the Raphael, Tenshiro, and Michelangelo.

Lunamaria was amazed at what she saw, if she didn't know any better then she would have thought that they were on the moon outside Copernicus. Ash smirked at Lunamaria's impression and said, "The guys sure know what they were doing right?"

Lunamaria asked, "Are you sure that this is a game?"

Ash was about to answer that when the alarm went off. Then they saw what looked like 105 Aile Daggers and GINNs come at them in large numbers. In the Justice's cockpit Morina said, "Why don't you try to give the order, 'Captain'?"

Athrun looked at her like she was crazy or something but decided to go along with it. He cleared his throat and said, "All units, open fire!"

To his surprise all the units and ships opened fire upon the incoming enemies. After that the Justice sped into the fray with the Strike Noir with the Verde Buster hanging back as artillery support.

As the three fought the Daggers and GINNs, they noticed that in each area of the mobile suits where the cockpits were, the section sort of looked infested looking with a red glowing orb in the center. They figured it was part of the design that the developers put in as they continued to shoot down mobile suits.

While the Daggers and GINNs continued to come in followed by Dagger variants, as well as CGUEs and GuAIZs, Lunamaria couldn't believe that this was an actual game. Instead it felt more along the lines of realistic training as she thought, 'If the pilots in Celestial consider this a game, then I wonder what their training regimes are like?' She shot down a couple of GuAIZs with her combined beam rifle as she concentrated.

Athrun and Cagalli felt like they were being put through their paces. Cagalli felt it even more since it's been a while since she piloted. She was almost shot down by a few Aile Daggers if not for some of the Aile Strikes that came in and supported her. Mayu, who was watching her thought, 'Wow, she's still good even though she hasn't piloted a mobile suit ever since the war.' Cagalli shouted, "Take this!" as she shot three GuAIZs and a CGUE with her beam rifles and linear cannons.

Athrun on the other hand, hand the same line of thought that Lunamaria had. This felt too 'extreme' to be a mere game to him as he sliced another Sword Dagger in half with his beam sabers. He threw a beam boomerang that destroyed three Launcher Daggers that were going for one of the ships.

Ten minutes into the battle new units came onto the battlefield. They were pale blue mobile suits that the three didn't recognized but the game identified them as an original Jolnir mech, called Gespensts. In reality Mayu, Ash, and Morina heard that most of the 'original' mechs were actually from a very old game that Nanami lent to the guys in the technological section called Super Robot Wars Original Generations. Nanami lent it to them in the hopes of seeing if the mech designs were practical to use. Unfortunately they couldn't do much with it but they were intrigued by the Huckebein designs, since the designs reminded them of units like the Strike and Freedom. Instead they used them in this game which the three pilots were now dealing with.

Athrun, Cagalli, and Lunamaria were slightly caught off guard by the appearance of the Gespensts, since they never seen anything like them. But now they were shooting them down along with the other units, thought they were a bit harder to shoot down. Cagalli shouted, "Damn, these Gespensts are tough!" As Cagalli said this it took a few hits from her beam rifle to shoot one down.

As another one was sliced into pieces by the Justice Athrun said, "Be careful, their beam rifles seem to be different then ours!" He dodged fire from a squad of Gespensts gunning for him.

"Roger that!" Lunamaria said as she activated an interesting feature on her Verde Buster, a modified form of Full Burst Mode used by the Freedom, something that Celestial incorporated into their own Verde Buster. Lunamaria was a bit surprised to see over six mobile suits fall from the attack as she thought, 'Awesome.'

Five minutes later the forces seemed to be thinning when suddenly a huge orange and black mech flew into the battlefield swinging a huge sword. The Aile Strikes that were unfortunate enough to be in their path were sliced in half by the mech's sword, despite their Phase Shift armor. It was about to approach one of the Archangel-class ships when the Justice swooped in and fired a volley of shots from it's beam rifle and beam cannons.

As the huge sword swung for the Justice, but missed thanks to the timely dodge Athrun shouted, "What the heck is that?!"

Lunamaria replied, "It looks like it's identified as a 'Grungust Type-0'. The game says that these things are extremely powerful." She fired a shot from the Verde Buster's combined beam rifle at the Grungust Type 0 and it hit, but to Lunamaria's shock all it did was scratch and sear the armor. Athrun and Cagalli were also surprised and Cagalli shouted, "How the heck do we beat that thing?!"

Athrun was busy thinking it over as he dodged the attacks from the Grungust Type 0. He knew that he would've been taken out of the game even if he managed to close in on the huge mech. As he blocked the Grungust Type 0's Boost Knuckle the Archangel-class ship designated as the Raphael came into his view. Suddenly Athrun got an idea and he called to Morina asking, "Hey Morina, can I order that ship to fire it's Lohengrin cannons?"

Morina, who was absorbed in watching the fight, snapped out of it as she replied, "Uh, yeah you can."

That's all Athrun wanted to hear as he pressed the communication and said, "Raphael, prepare Lohengrins to fire!"

"Roger that Justice." A female voice said. As he saw the Raphael prepare it's Lohengrin cannons Athrun lured the Grungust Type 0 into a position where it was in range of the attack. Cagalli and Lunamaria, who were fending off Daggers and Gespensts, were curious at what Athrun was planning. When he lured it within range of the positron cannons he shouted, "Raphael, fire!"

The Justice quickly got out of the way as the Lohengrin cannons from the Raphael fired. The Grungust Type 0 couldn't get away and with that the positron blast engulfed the mech, sword and all. Athrun sighed and said, "Good thing that worked." He got back into the battle and engaged several Gespensts, which fired their missiles at the Justice.

The Strike Noir was busy engaging a particularly strong Gespenst. This one seemed more mobile and had a darker blue color, not to mention it carried two powerful beam rifles. Cagalli grunted when her shots missed. Then she took out both beam blades and started slashing at it shouting, "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" The slashes were quite fast that the Gespenst couldn't dodge all the slashes and eventually got stabbed right in the chest by one of the beam blades. The Strike Noir took it out and the Gespenst exploded. Cagalli said with a huff, "Finally." All of a sudden there was an explosion only to see the Tenshiro explode from the combined fire of the Gespensts and the few Gunbarrel Daggers.

The three looked at the situation and saw that it looked horrible. Half of the mobile suit forces on their side had been destroyed. All they had left were five Busters, one Launcher Strike, three Rosso Aegis', and six Aile Strikes with one IWSP Strike E with all of the cannons missing. Most of the surviving units looked like they went through the middle of a cross fire between two ships which wasn't assuring.

The Justice had both ends of it's subflight lifter blown off and had lost it's rifle, along with various gashes all over the frame from beam fire. Athrun kept his cool but was starting to pant a bit from all the fighting. The Strike Noir had lost the left side of it's Noir Striker pack, which meant it's left linear gun was gone. Fortunately it still had it's beam blade from that side and was now wielding it along with a Shorty beam rifle in it's other hand. Somehow Cagalli was now using a weird fighting style using the two weapons. The Verde Buster now looked like the original Buster, with both the gun launcher and beam cannon on it's shoulders blown off. Half the missile pods were damaged, not that it mattered since Lunamaria depleted all of Verde Buster's missiles. Now she was using two beam rifles she picked up from fallen Daggers and was busy shooting at the enemy. Lunamaria started to feel exhausted but she didn't give in, she felt that her pride as a ZAFT soldier was on the line, not to mention that she wanted to show Mayu what she was made of.

With seven minutes left on the clock the enemies were starting to lessen. There were only about two dozen Gespensts left and they were being picked off by the AI. The three looked around with Lunamaria saying, "Is that all of them?" as she blasted a Gespenst that came after her.

"Don't bet on it." Athrun said, "There's at least six minutes left. Something's definitely going to happen, right Morina?" As Athrun turned to face her, all Morina did was smile. He turned back and thought, 'I bet those three are enjoying this.'

Suddenly alarms went of in the cockpits as Lunamaria looked around shouting, "What's going on."

On the radar two big heat sources were coming at them, Athrun and Cagalli looked to the direction it was coming from and to their surprise, saw two Regenerates in mobile armor mode heading towards them, in different colors of red and black. The mobile suits that tried to intercept them were either pushed back hard by the shock or were shredded to pieces due to the extreme speed that the three machines were going at.

They transformed into mobile suit mode as they stopped in front of the Michelangelo. The Regenerates dodged the fire from the ship as they aimed their hyper impulse beam cannons at the Michelangelo. The three realized what they were going to do and both the Justice and Strike Noir sped their way to the two machines with the Verde Buster behind them. They were too late as the two cannons fired and one pierced the bridge while the other went through the engines, causing the ship to explode.

Both Athrun and Cagalli groaned as the Strike Noir fired it's linear gun while the Justice fired it's rifle that it picked up from a fallen Aile Strike. The shots missed but got both of the Regenerates attention. They were the only two enemies left as all surviving mechs regrouped around the Raphael. Now there were only nine mechs left, including the three that were piloted by Athrun, Cagalli, and Lunamaria.

With three minutes left on the clock all Athrun could think of was stalling the two until the timer ran out. Seeing as the three mechs weren't in the best of conditions he said, "Cagalli, Lunamaria, try to stall the two Regenerates until the time runs out," He had to dodge fire from one of the Regenerates before he continued, "But if you see a killing blow, take it without hesitation."

"Roger that!" The two girls replied. The Justice engaged one of the Regenerates along with the surviving Rosso Aegis, while the Strike Noir with the two surviving Aile Strikes engaged the other Regenerate, with Lunamaria and the other busters providing support.

As the timer went down the Regenerate that the Strike Noir was engaging was destroyed by fire from the shots from the Busters, particularly Lunamaria's shot were she ditched the beam rifles for the ones that were still on the Verde Buster's hips and combined them. It didn't come without cost as the two Strikes were impaled by the Regenerate's sword and the Strike Noir lost it's left arm and leg. This left it wide open to the shots from the Busters as they ripped it apart.

Cagalli was frustrated that she was out of the fight. Technically she was fine as she wasn't shot down, but the state her mobile suit was in she wouldn't be able to fight properly. Meanwhile Athrun was having a hard time dealing with the other Regenerate. He had sacrificed his subflight lifter to catch it off guard but the Regenerate sliced it in half. The other Rosso Aegis was destroyed when it took a killing blow meant for the Justice, taking it's cannon along with it. Despite it's huge form it was giving a pounding on the Justice with it's beam swords.

Suddenly the timer reached zero and suddenly a lot of enemies appeared on the radar. From the look of it there was another wave of Daggers, GuAIZs, and Gespensts on their way. Lunamaria was stumped and shouted, "What?! There's more of them?! I don't think that we can handle anymore!"

Athrun was about to say something when positron shots fired from overhead heading for the wave off enemies that were incoming. The Regenerate looked distracted and Athrun took that chance to stab it in the cockpit area, causing it to explode. The three relaxed as they saw the reinforcements that had come, in the form of five Izumo-class ships and three Archangel-class ships, along with their mobile suit complements.

Inside each of the cockpits the screens switched to a closing briefing and an overview of their progress along with a mission grade from S to D. Athrun got a S while Cagalli and Lunamaria got an A grade. The game switched to a menu screen and the three slumped back and closed their eyes. Mayu, Ash, and Morina smiled, with Mayu asking over the line, "So, how was it?"

Lunamaria turned to her face on the monitor and replied, "I can't believe that was actually a game. If that was really a game then I'd hate to see what Celestial's training regimes are like."

Mayu laughed and said, "There's not much of a difference, really."

Cagalli looked like she got the wind knocked out of her and said, "That wasn't a game, more like a torturous simulation."

"Oh don't be like that Cagalli," Mayu said, "At least your skills haven't rusted much since the last time you've been in a mobile suit."

Cagalli laughed a bit and said, "I guess you're right."

Athrun smiled as he saw that Cagalli was feeling better, despite feeling like he was put through his paces quite hard. Lunamaria was the worst of them, that simulation made the engagement with the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss back at the debris field look like training. She looked beat with Ash asking, "Hey, are you alright Lunamaria? You look like someone who went on a twenty-four hour training marathon."

Lunamaria shook her head and said, "I don't look that bad."

Mayu felt that slight twinge in her chest again hearing the conversation between Ash and Lunamaria. She said, "Uh, why don't we get out of the cockpits? I could sure go for a drink right about now."

Morina agreed, "Yeah, as much as I like to be in the same cockpit with a cutie like Athrun, I think it's better that we get out before my legs fall asleep."

Athrun blushed a bit while Cagalli looked slightly annoyed. Lunamaria smirked at Morina's comment and the six of them started to get out of the cockpits. Mayu, Ash, and Morina got out after the others with them all feeling that they watched something interesting. They got down and the six of them headed for the cafeteria for a refresher as Lunamaria recalled what happened back in the game with excitement. Mayu wondered a bit on how someone like her was a ZAFT redcoat but she knew better, to never judge a book by it's cover.


	11. Mars and Secrets

Chapter 11 – Mars and Secrets

_October 9, C.E. 73 – Onogoro Island, harbor_

The Minerva had arrived at Orb and now was being escorted into one of the harbors. Meanwhile Mayu was busy getting ready to go out and meet the people with Cagalli and the others. From what she heard from Ash and Morina, President Mayumi, along with Via, Lenore, Nanami, and a few others had gone over to Reverend Malchio's orphanage to pick up everyone there. They wouldn't be back until later tonight due to Mayumi attending to the few hidden bases Celestial had nearby. Instead someone else would be coming to meet them and Mayu was curious who it would be, since Ash and Morina didn't say anything else about it.

Mayu's thoughts turned to how she slapped Shinn earlier. A part of her felt like that she should apologize, but another part felt like he deserved it. In all her life she had know him Mayu never heard Shinn talk so arrogantly and as of late, she had little tolerance for that sort of thing. Although what Talia said to her eased her conscious somewhat it still didn't make her feel any better.

That was when Morina's voice came from the other side asking, "Are you ready M-, uh, Yuna?"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." Mayu's voice said. She looked at herself in a mirror and thought, 'I'd better not think about it.' Then she came out to find Ash and Morina waiting for her outside her door. Ash said, "Captain Gladys is going to meet with Prime Minister Seiran and his son with Cagalli and Athrun."

The three walked down the hallway as Mayu said, "I still can't believe that the guy's name is Yuna Roma Seiran. At least the name Yuna is better on me, right?"

"Most definitely," Morina said, "That guy really needs a reality check if you ask me. He's way too full of himself. Athrun's definitely the better guy for Cagalli."

"Even the president doesn't like the Seirans, and she tends to get along with everybody." Ash added.

When they found Talia, Arthur, Cagalli, and Athrun they greeted them. Then the seven of them departed the Minerva and walked towards the welcoming committee for Cagalli, which predictably consisted of Prime Minister Unato Ema Seiran and Yuna Roma Seiran. Mayu had never met, or even seen either of them before despite being an Orb citizen. But from what she heard from Ash, Morina, and Mayumi, let's just say that it wasn't very pleasant.

As they approached Yuna called to Cagalli and started to fawn all over her. This made Ash whisper to Mayu, "Should we get some salt? 'Cause it looks like a slug's attacking Cagalli.'

Mayu, as well as Athrun and Morina, smirked at the comment. Now they were watching Cagalli talk with Unato about the situation. Again Mayu felt bored just standing there doing nothing. She stifled a yawn as she watched the scene.

When Yuna took Cagalli by the shoulder Ash quickly whispered, "Oh gawd, Cagalli's being attacked by a slug again."

The three stifled a laugh and Athrun was lucky enough to keep a neutral face as Yuna addressed him. Then they all went away in cars to a meeting, with Athrun departing shortly afterwards. Ash and Morina looked around with Ash asking, "Where could Celestial's representative be?"

Both Talia and Arthur looked at each other wondering if they should stay when a car came up to them. When it stopped the driver came out and opened the back door. To Ash and Morina's surprise, Rondo Mina Sahaku came out of the car along with two of her Socius clones. Mayu was also surprised by her appearance, she only had the pleasure of meeting her once before and that was shortly before the Serene's maiden voyage.

Mayu and the other pilots were surprised to hear that Mina was one of Mayumi's friends. The story was that they met shortly after Mayumi became president, Mina and her brother visited Celestial HQ, something about them being the representatives of the Orb government. Mayumi had a bit of trouble dealing with Ghina's attitude towards her but found Mina's company to be really enjoyable. They became friends afterwards after a few visits from Mina and kept in contact with each other. Honestly they wondered how many important people Mayumi knew, which happened to be one of the seven mysteries of Celestial. Now the three Celestial members wondered what she was doing here while Talia and Arthur wondered what was going on.

When Mina and her two bodyguards came up to them she introduced herself, "I'm Rondo Mina Sahaku, and I'm representing Celestial on behalf of President Mayumi."

Talia was surprised and stunned by this, since she wasn't expecting another member of the five royal families to show up. Arthur was also stunned but by how beautiful Mina is but snapped out of it when Talia gave him a small pinch. The three Celestial members walked forward and Morina said, "Well, I wasn't expecting you Lady Mina, I must say we're quite surprised to see you here."

"Well, it was a request from Mayumi that I couldn't turn down." Mina replied, "She gave me her 'look' when she asked me." The three of them smirked since they knew what Mina was talking about; Mayumi gave this puppy-like look when she gave a request from time to time, she did this when she wanted something done with no excuses. The three have experienced it before. Mayu remembered the time Mayumi did it to her; she asked Mayu to come along shopping with her. Mayu couldn't figure out why Mayumi asked her but by the end of the day, she was exhausted from carrying most of the bags.

Mayu shook her head from the memory as Mina turned to face the other two. Talia saluted and introduced herself, "Talia Gladys, captain of the Minerva." Arthur was next as he said, "Arthur Trine, executive officer of the Minerva."

Mina smiled and said, "Well now, I see that the Minerva has an excellent captain and XO. It's an honor to meet the two of you."

Talia returned her smile saying, "Thank you very much Lady Sahaku."

"Please, I should thank you on behalf of President Mayumi, for taking care of Celestial's members." Mina said. Then she turned back to Morina and said, "Come, let me take you to the facility. The Serene is scheduled to come in later today, and I think that the crew would be glad to see you there."

"Thank you very much Lady Mina." Morina replied. Ash and Mayu were silent throughout the whole thing since Ash had his mind somewhere else while Mayu was too embarrassed to talk to someone like Mina. Mina said, "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Captain Gladys, Officer Trine. Someone from Celestial will come by tomorrow to pick up the mobile suits." She bowed and went back to the car with her bodyguards, the Celestial members following behind her as they got in the car.

As they drove off Talia thought, 'They sure were an interesting bunch.' Then she went over and started giving orders to the crew.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility – harbor, a few hours later_

After Mina had dropped Mayu, Ash, and Morina off, they went inside to find Nanami and to their surprise, Yoon waiting for them. Nanami explained the situation to them and they headed for the underground harbor where the Serene was coming into.

From the harbor's control room the three of them watched as the Serene came in. From the state it was in it had a number of scratches and saw quite a few dents where the debris seemed to hit it. The Serene's docking procedure had gone off without a hitch and the three went to the lower levels to greet everyone. From what they heard from the Serene's bridge there were quite a few people that were worried about them.

Down in the Serene's dock the side airlock opened and out came all the pilots. Elena was running towards them in a hurry while the others were walking. Elena ran up to Mayu and gave her a big hug, surprising Mayu as she said, "Whoa Elena, did you miss me that much?"

Elena looked at her with sparkling eyes which Mayu took as a yes. The others caught up to them as Ash shouted, "Hey guys, all of you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine Ash." Synar said as the nine of them stood in front of them. Asagi added, "Elena was a bit distraught but other than that things were fine."

"Same old Elena huh?" Morina said as she rubbed Elena's head.

"So what's been happening? I mean the Serene's been having trouble with it's communication functions so we haven't been able to hear much." Flay told them. The others nodded to each other in agreement.

"I would like to hear about that as well." Natarle said as she approached the group. Her sudden appearance spooked some of the pilots; Luri nearly slipped from the railing she was leaning on. Ash sighed and said, "We'll let's head to the main control room. Seeing it might be better than just explaining it to you guys."

* * *

_Control room_

Natarle and the other pilots were looking at the big screen which showed multiple channels at once, which were all showing news reports. They all reported the damages the falling fragments did on the earth and they all had looks of shock on their faces. They were expecting something like this but to see them firsthand is definitely a shocker. Mayu said, "I know, I felt the same when I saw the images myself."

Natarle said in a whisper, "This is horrible. Even the small fragments did a lot of damage." Flay turned to Ash and asked, "What's Celestial doing about the situation?"

"Let's see, President Mayumi had most of our people stationed in orbit in convoy ships since the ships wouldn't have been in any help in preventing the drop. Now each of the convoy ships have been dispatched to the most heavily affected areas around the Earth." Ash explained.

"What happened to the other four Serene-class ships?" Natarle asked.

Morina filled her in on that one, "The President is visiting the two bases that are holding the ships. She going to see what happened to them since they weren't able to dispatch them on time, from what I've heard."

That was when Nanami and Yoon came into the room. Nanami went over to the control panel and typed while saying, "The president's on the line. She wants to speak to all of you right now."

Then Mayumi's face appeared on the monitor. From the looks of things she was at one of Celestial's bases since the ship behind her was the Serene-class ship Relief II. Mayumi said, "Hi everyone, I'm glad you guys came back safe and sound. I pretty sure trying to stop Junius Seven from falling was no doubt very dangerous."

"Yeah it was." Morina said, "The guys that did it were Patrick Zala extremists."

"Ugh, Lenore's not gonna like hearing that." Mayumi replied with a sour face. All of a sudden there was cheering in the background, and out of nowhere a group of Celestial members went by carrying Via and Lenore on top. They were using a rug which they sat on and the group shouting, "Goddess, goddess!" as they carried the two across the screen. Both women were giggling as they left the view of the monitor.

The control room was silent for a bit until Asagi, Juri, and Mayura said together, "Talk about random."

Mayumi coughed to get their attention and said, "Anyway, I have a new mission for the Serene. The Serene is to travel throughout eastern Eurasia and helping with the relief effort. The ship will depart in a few days, depending on how the repairs and resupply goes. Oh, and the Justice and Freedom are to be removed from the Serene, as well as both Agents Ash and Morina."

The group was a bit surprised but Ash asked, "You want them to go on without us?"

"That's right," Mayumi replied, "Everyone onboard has enough experience dealing with trouble and helping the people. Also I want the two of you to keep an eye on things here in Orb along with Nanami."

Both Ash and Morina nodded and they said, "Acknowledged Ms. President."

"Good, now I better go see what that troupe was all about. See ya!" As Mayumi ran off the line went dead. The room was quiet for a minute when Yoon said, "Excuse me," Everyone turned to face her and she got slightly embarrassed but she went on, "I received word that the ReHOME is going to be here tomorrow for some business."

This got everyone's attention, especially the three Astray girls. Asagi nudged Juri and said, "Well now, it looks like you'll be able to show Lowe your new Astray a lot sooner."

"W-what do you mean by that?!" Juri snapped back.

Mayura smirked as she whispered, "Denial~!"

As the three talked amongst themselves Nanami addressed the others, "I think that's all for now. All of you better get some R&R while you can." With that Nanami left the room along with Yoon. Ash said, "I'll see you guys later. I need to lay down for a bit." With that he too left the room.

Then as Ash's form left the door Natalie appeared. She asked, "Excuse me, but is Flay here?"

"I'm here Professor Kino." Flay replied as she went over to Natalie. She asked, "Do you have the data Flay?"

"Yes, it's right here." Flay took out a disk from her pocket and handed it over to Natalie. Natalie said, "Good, with this maybe the project can go into the MP stages. Could you please come with me?"

"Sure." Flay replied as she left the control room with Natalie. Soon the group broke off to do their own thing: Natarle headed back to the Serene, Synar and Antino dragged Kazuki with them to go train in the simulators, Silenna and Luri left shortly after, talking about something Mayu couldn't figure out. Asagi, Juri, and Mayura were still in their own little world as they too left, leaving Mayu and Elena in the control room. Mayu looked over to Elena and said, "Why don't we head for my room Elena?"

Elena wrote, "Okay, but I want you to help me with bringing out my voice again."

"Sure." Mayu smiled as the two left the control room. As they walked Mayu thought, 'When will I be able to tell Shinn? The chances of seeing him again are very slim, unless the Minerva's crew gets the chance to go ashore. But considering how big brother feels about Orb now, I don't think it's possible.'

Elena noticed Mayu's solemn look and she nudged her arm writing, "Are you alright Mayu?"

"I'm fine." Mayu replied, assuring her, "It's nothing serious."

* * *

_October 9, C.E. 73 – Orb harbor_

The next day Mayu, Elena, Ash, and Morina were waiting for the Junk Guild crew as the ReHOME docked into port. When it stopped they waited a while figuring that the crew that was coming down to meet them. They sure did when Lowe Guele walked off the ReHOME and on the bridge towards them, followed by Kisato Yamabuki who was accompanying him. When he approached Lowe shouted, "Hey guys! It's been a while!"

"It sure has." Ash said as shook Lowe's hand. Morina said, "Well, it looks like your little trip to Mars hasn't changed you guys a bit." as she too shook Lowe's hand. Lowe turned to Mayu and said, "I don't think we've met. What's your name Miss?"

Mayu looked at Ash and he said, "It's okay, the Junk Guild knows the situation and they are known to keeping secrets."

Mayu nodded and said, "I'm Mayu Asuka, and I'm one of the Serene's pilots." The two shook hands as Lowe said, "Wow you're a pilot? That's quite impressive." Then he turned to Elena and said, "So how've you been doing Elle?"

Elena gave Lowe a look and wrote, "I thought I told you not to call me that Lowe!" Kisato said with a smile, "But it really suits you Elle!"

Elena looked less than amused but didn't write anything. Lowe said, "Anyway, it's nice to see you again Elena." Lowe gave Elena a pat on the head as she slightly rolled her eyes.

As Ash and Morina talked to Lowe and Kisato Mayu sort of wondered what she was doing there. The two asked her to come along with them and Elena happened to be with her so she tagged along. She also felt she was being treated a bit differently than the other and it sort of made her wonder from time to time.

Suddenly Mayu found herself walking with Elena pulling her along. They were heading for the ReHOME's hanger and Mayu only caught part of the conversation, saying something about Mars and a mobile suit. When they reached the hanger they caught the sight of a large container the size of a mobile suit. Lowe explained, "This came from the guys at Celestial on Mars. It's called the ZGMF-X14A Faith. They said it was the result of combining the schematics of the other five machines. That's all I know since the guys sealed the mobile suit up and only President Hearton can have access to it."

Some of the crew were busy preparing the container for transport and Ash said, "Well, since that's being done why don't you come with us to check the Serene? I'm sure you guys will find it quite interesting."

"Sure, I want to see what mobile suits you guys built for the Serene." Lowe said. Morina smiled and said, "I knew you'd say that." She turned to Kisato saying, "Are you coming Kisato?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay on the ReHOME for now. There are some things I need to look over." Kisato said.

"Okay." Morina said as Kisato left the hanger. The five of them headed for a nearby car and got into it. When they drove off Lowe started talking to them about the things he did on Mars among other things. One of the things that surprised the four was that there was a Celestial International set up on Mars, even though Lowe mentioned something about it before. They continued talking as Ash drove towards the underground facility.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility – Serene's dock_

Mayu and the others were giving Lowe a tour of the place. He was here once before but that was over two years ago, when the Junk Guild came by to sell a few things to Celestial. Lowe noticed how some places of the facility had changed, namely the docking area where the Serene's usually kept. He was quite amazed at how the Serene looked saying, "Now that's one impressive ship, but it kind of looks like the Archangel."

"It does but this ship has both Laminated Armor and Trans-Phase Armor to protect it, as well as a few upgraded parts." Mayu explained.

Ash and Morina were impressed with how Mayu was showing Lowe around the facility. Morina remembered how Mayu used to get lost within the facility sometimes the first few months. Ash heard the story and found it quite funny, despite what Mayu told him. Now they were heading for the Serene's right open hangar bay door where they saw people loading the Strike Noir onto the ship, along with other supplies. They also saw technicians fixing the Lohengrin cannon on the left side. Lowe asked, "What happened there?"

"Debris hit it during reentry while trying to destroy Junius Seven." Ash replied. Lowe understood as they walked up the ramp and went into the Serene.

Lowe was quite amazed at the mobile suits that were being fixed inside the Serene. He was quite in awe when his eyes went over each mobile suit, from the Rosso Aegis to the Blu Duel. Then he spotted the original Strike with Flay working on it along with a few other technicians. As he looked at the Barrett and Claymore he said, "This is an awesome selection of mobile suits. But from the looks of things I take it things weren't easy at Junius Seven?"

"Yeah, those extremists fought to the bitter end. I even saw some self-destruct their mobile suits on us." Morina replied bitterly, it was evident since the Claymore had some serious burns on it's armor, it wasn't any worse thanks to the Phase Shift armor protecting it.

Then Lowe's gaze fell upon the three Astrays and Lowe said, "Those mobile suits, they look like-!"

"Hey!" All of them turned to see Asagi, Juri, and Mayura heading towards them. Juri said, "Hi Lowe, it's been a while!"

"Hey, if it isn't the Astray girls! Asagi, Juri and Mayura right? It's been a long time!" Lowe greeted them. Hanging around them so long Mayu got an idea and said, "Hey girls, why don't you show Lowe your personal Astrays? Better yet why don't you ask him to help you? I'm sure that Celestial will pay extra right Ash?"

Ash could see where Mayu was getting at and said, "Sure, if Lowe helps with the repairs we'll add it to the initial payment. Just leave it to me and Morina."

"Are you sure about that Ash?" Lowe asked. Ash smiled at him and said, "Sure, we need the machines ready in a few days, and we're kind of under manned at the moment. It's due to many of our people are around the world helping with the relief effort."

"In that case I'll be glad to help with the repairs." Lowe said with a smile. He didn't notice Asagi whisper to Juri, "Wow, now that was easy, thanks to Mayu."

"Quiet you." Juri said. Lowe turned to them and he asked, "So, what are these fine beauties?"

Mayu, Ash, and Morina watched as Juri introduced him to each of the mechs, the MBF-P05 Astray Silver Frame, the MBF-P06 Astray Ruby Frame, and the MBF-P07 Astray Sapphire Frame. Morina said, "You did that on purpose didn't you."

"Of course; I heard them gossip about this for a while and I just helped them a bit." Mayu told her with a smug look on her face.

Ash and Morina laughed a bit as one of the technicians that brought in the Strike Noir came up to them and said, "Excuse me, but there's a message for a 'Yuna Aska'?"

Mayu said, "That's my code name. It's probably for me." The technician looked at the two siblings and they both nodded as confirmation. The technician handed Mayu a note and said, "I received a message from someone on the Minerva. She asked me to give that to you." The technician nodded and went back to work as Morina said, "I wonder who it could be, Mayu?"

From what the technician said Mayu had a pretty good idea who the note was from. When she opened it the note said,

_Yuna,_

_ When you get this message meet me by the harbor entrance where the Minerva is. I want you to show me around a bit. Sorry if I sound a bit pushy but I really want you to show me around Orb a bit._

_ Lunamaria,_

"So it's from Lunamaria huh?" Ash said as he looked at the note over Mayu's shoulder. She blushed a bit a how Ash was close to her and said, "Y-yeah, it is." That was when Natarle came up to them and said, "I see you three are here, good."

"Is something wrong Natarle?" Morina asked her.

"It's about the Justice and Freedom." Natarle replied, "Some of the technicians wanted to know where they are supposed to go."

Morina thought about it and said, "They'll go into the hangar where METEORs 03 and 04 are being kept."

"Okay, thanks Morina." Natarle walked over and went back outside to give the guys the order. A bit far out they could see the containers holding the Justice and Freedom. Morina said, "Was Natarle supposed to oversee the mobile suit transfers?"

"Yeah, she said she wanted to meet the Minerva's captain face to face while she was there too, from what I've heard." Ash replied. Then he said, "Well, I guess you should go with Mayu and take her to Lunamaria, Morina."

"What? Why me?" Morina asked.

Ash sighed and said, "Well, I have some things like approve of, like Dr. Muris' transfer to the Serene as the new medical officer among things." This bit of news surprised them, since Liana was one of Celestial's best doctors. Ash went on, "And since I hear that you aren't too busy little sister I figure you can drive Mayu over to where the Minerva is docked."

Ash smiled as he ran off before either Mayu or Morina could say anything. Morina realized that she somehow got duped and shouted, "Argh, not again! He always does that at the worst times!"

Mayu laughed watching Morina fume over this latest stunt, though she was a bit sad that Ash just ran off like that. However she shook her head and said, "Let's go Morina, I don't want to keep Luna waiting."

"Sure, sure." Morina replied and the two left the hanger. Ash looked at them as they were leaving and thought, 'I sorry about that you two but I'm in no mood to be in between what's going to be a girl's day out. I was right in being busy however so I hope Morina can see that.' That was when he saw Natalie by the Strike talking with Flay. He went over to see what they were doing and to ask a few things.

* * *

_Onogoro Island – Minerva's port_

Morina drove Mayu to the area Lunamaria said she would be waiting, and sure enough, they found Lunamaria waiting for them in her casual wear. She waved at them shouting, "Hey Yuna, glad you made it."

"Well, it's not like I was going to leave you hanging now, right?" Mayu teased. Both Mayu and Morina were in their casual clothes and Mayu was wearing sunglasses that looked like Athrun's but they were blue instead of red. Morina smirked and said, "Get in Ms. Hawke."

"Thanks, oh and you can call me Lunamaria if you want." Lunamaria said as she jumped into the car. Morina replied, "Then call me Morina, or Rina, whatever you prefer." The car drove away from the port as Mayu said, "Hey, none of us call you Rina, Morina."

"I know, I was just kidding." Morina said, "So, where do you want to go Lunamaria?"

"Let's see, how about we go check out one of the cities first?" Lunamaria suggested.

Both Mayu and Morina looked at each other and Morina said, "That works for us."

A few hours later Morina was driving back to Onogoro. The three of them went for a bit of shopping and the three of them got a few things. During that time they talked and got to know each other a bit better and both Mayu and Lunamaria had fun, with Morina watching them. Now they were back on Onogoro Island and Morina asked, "Hey, why don't you come visit the facility Celestial has on here?"

Lunamaria was a bit surprised at the proposition and asked, "Are you sure it's alright Morina?"

"Sure, the Serene's going to leave in a few days, not to mention we probably won't see each other for a while. There's no harm in it." Morina explained.

Mayu wondered what Morina was thinking about as Lunamaria said, "Sure, why not?" Mayu said, "Well, let's head over to the underground facility Morina."

"Right!" Morina put the car on full throttle making Mayu and Lunamaria fall back in their seats. The car was going full speed to Celestial's facility.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility – Serene's harbor_

Like what happened with Lowe earlier, Mayu showed Lunamaria around the facility. Lunamaria was quite impressed with everything, especially the simulation room. The three spent ten minutes in the room before heading to the harbor where the Serene was kept. When they entered Lunamaria said, "Wow, the Serene looks really impressive up close. It looks like the Archangel for the most part but I can see the differences."

"Yeah, since this ship is more like an armed transport than a battleship most of the time." Mayu told her. They saw that the supplies were still being loaded in and Lunamaria asked, "So, where are you guys heading off to?"

"We're going to eastern Eurasia and head west from there, helping those affected by the disaster." Mayu replied. That was when Elena came up to them and hugged Mayu saying, "Oi, Elena I wasn't gone that long."

Elena gave her a puppy look that made Mayu say, "Oh don't give me that look Elena." Lunamaria laughed a bit and asked, "Haha, it looks like Lina's very attached to you Yuna."

Elena was a bit confused but remembered Lunamaria was a ZAFT soldier so they went by their code names unless something happened. She wrote, "It's nice to see you again Ms. Hawke."

"You two Lina." Lunamaria replied. Then she asked, "Is she mute?"

"Yes, but it's due to trauma back in 71. It's something we don't like to talk about." Morina told her.

Lunamaria's face faltered and she said, "Oh, I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, you didn't know." Mayu said. Elena responded by giving her a hug too. Lunamaria said, "Thanks Lina."

The two parted and Elena nodded to show that she understands. Then Morina coughed and said, "Well, why don't we give Lunamaria a tour of the Serene?" Mayu nodded and replied, "Sure, we had a tour of the Minerva so we'd like to return the favor, in a way."

That was when Ash came up to them, and from the way he was running Ash was trying to catch up to Elena. He said, "You shouldn't run off like that Elena." Then he saw Mayu, Morina, and Lunamaria together and said, "Oh, you're back, and Lunamaria's with you."

"We're just about to give Luna a tour of the Serene. You wanna come?" Morina asked him. Ash thought about then replied, "Sure, most of my work is done anyway."

Mayu led everyone into the Serene through the hangar door and Lunamaria got to see the mobile suits up close. When Mayu pointed out that the pilot of the Rosso Aegis was Elena, Lunamaria was dumbfounded. It looked like the repairs were still going on but the only pilots they could find were the Astray girls and they were getting help from Lowe with their repairs. Lunamaria pointed out about the three Astray Frames, "You know, those three remind me of each of the Impulse's three forms."

"The three silhouettes are probably based on those three as well as the Strike. We had to do a little demonstration in front of a few people from the Integrated Design Bureau, and I guess they got the ideas from there." Morina told her. She remembered that it was a favor from them since they decided to overlook the fact that Celestial had obtained plans for all five of their ZGMF-XA mobile suits, so they performed the demonstration within Heaven's Reprieve.

They moved on from the hanger and Mayu showed Lunamaria areas like the storage room, cafeteria, bridge, and even the recreation room. Lunamaria noticed that the bridge was modeled after ZAFT's since the designers like the design. She found the recreation room to be quite interesting, since it had a few things that weren't on the Minerva, like a flat screen and a few gaming consoles. She said, "You know, you guys sure got it good here."

"I guess, though we prefer games like Generation Seed where we use our mobile suit cockpits instead." Mayu replied.

Now they were heading for the dormitories when suddenly Mayu tripped sending the wallet in her pocket flying. While Ash and Morina were checking to see if Mayu was alright, Mayu's wallet had opened up at Lunamaria's feet and when she bent down to pick up, she was quite surprised, more or less borderline shocked, to see a picture of Mayu and Shinn together looking happy. When Mayu got up Lunamaria asked, "Uh, could you explain this to me?"

Everyone turned around to Lunamaria and they saw her holding Mayu's wallet with the picture inside. Mayu sort of panicked while Ash sighed and said, "Fine, but let's head for Mayu's room, we'll talk there."

* * *

_Serene – Mayu and Elena's quarters_

It took about ten minutes for Mayu, Ash, and Morina to explain the situation to Lunamaria. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Lunamaria knew the story from Shinn, that he said his entire family was killed during the battle of Orb. Then Mayu told her the other side of the story, of how Ash and Morina found her barely alive and took her to his facility for treatment. Then she told Lunamaria her story of how she became a mobile suit pilot and what she's been doing for the past two years. Mayu also told the reason why she couldn't tell Shinn earlier or even during the past few years; the record of refugees going to who knows where was skewered thanks to the shoddy government that was in charge of Orb after the battle, as well as the special rules that applied to relations between Celestial and other militaries.

When Mayu finished with her story Lunamaria was quite shocked. Mayu proved her identity by taking off her sunglasses, showing that her eyes were really pale violet instead of green that she had while on her time on the Minerva. Finally Lunamaria said, "Wow, that's one huge story."

Mayu asked, "Please don't tell my brother, because I want to be the one to tell him."

Lunamaria understood Mayu's intentions and replied, "Sure, I promise, it's not like he would believe me anyway. But what about Shinn, I mean since he acts the way he does due to what happened back then."

"I figured as much." Ash said. Mayu told her, "I know, but when we meet each other again, I'll tell him for sure, and I hope you're there too."

"Of course, we're friends right?" Lunamaria asked. Mayu smiled and said, "Right, thanks Luna."

Lunamaria smiled and said, "You know, you two look very different despite being siblings you know."

Mayu laughed and said, "It's probably because Shinn and I are second generation coordinators. I really don't understand the whole genetics thing though, that something I would need to ask Nina."

"Nina?" Lunamaria asked. Ash replied, "Nina Hikari, she's one of President Mayumi's secretaries and a former geneticist." Lunamaria nodded that she understood. That's when Elena wrote, "Since we're being truthful here let me reintroduce myself. I'm Elena Sumire, pilot of the Rosso Aegis."

"I still can't believe a little girl like you is a mobile suit pilot." Lunamaria said, wondering how a little girl like her ended up as a pilot.

Mayu got up and said, "Thanks again Luna, for keeping this under wraps for now." Lunamaria said, "It's okay, I told you I-." Suddenly the door opened and Kazuki ran into the room shouting, "Hide me Mayu!"

"Wait, what's going-?!" Mayu shouted when the door opened again to reveal Silenna and Luri coming in with Silenna holding a gothic dress and shouting, "Wait, Kazuki! Mayu could you-?! Oh, cripes." Silenna, Luri, and Kazuki just noticed Lunamaria in the room when Morina said, "Don't worry, she knows everything."

"Wha-?! What happened?" Luri asked. Lunamaria couldn't help but see that Luri looked like a feminine version of Athrun and wondered if they were twins.

When the three told them the story Silenna laughed and said, "Wow, so the secret's out because of a little trip-up?"

"That's not funny Silenna!" Mayu replied. Then Kazuki got up and the others noticed that he was wearing another Lolita dress. The three introduced themselves to Lunamaria with Silenna saying, "My name's Silenna Canter, pilot of the Blu Duel." Luri said, "I'm Luri Thodorn, and I'm the pilot of the Barrett. Oh, and before you say anything, I'm not related to Athrun Zala, it's just a coincidence." They all giggled as Kazuki said, "I'm Kazuki Himori, pilot of the Nero Blitz." Mayu told Lunamaria, "In case you're wondering, Kazuki's actually a guy."

"Say what?" Lunamaria asked, her jaw dropping as she took a closer look at him, making Kazuki blush, "I don't believe it; he looks too much like a girl to be a guy."

"It's an androgynous thing." Ash said. Then he said, "From the looks of things I can take a 'wild' guess what's going on here." Kazuki remembered and said, "No, I'm not going to wear that! It shows too much skin!"

"Don't worry, it's not like anyone's going to see you in it." Silenna said, "Grab him Luri!" There was a bit of a scuffle but they got him. They dragged him out with Kazuki looking dejected. They heard Silenna say, "I change my mind, we'll show the Captain with you in this dress."

"Nnnoooo!" Was all they could hear from Kazuki before the door closed. Lunamaria asked, "Is he going to be alright?"

Mayu replied, "Well, things like that are considered normal around here so, yeah I guess." Lunamaria couldn't believe that something like that would be considered normal around here but put that thought out her mind. That's when Ash took out what looked like a black box the size of a small hand-held safe and said, "Here Lunamaria, this is for you."

Lunamaria took it and asked, "What is this?" Ash also gave her a wire, three wireless adapters, and a small book as he said, "That's actually a copy of Generation Seed, believe it or not. You can use it to hook it up to your ZAKU when you want to play it. There are instructions on how to install and remove it when necessary. Consider it a gift and a token for keeping one of our secrets."

"Thanks Ash." Lunamaria said. Mayu asked, "Is that alright Ash? Giving her something like that?"

"Don't worry, it's just a game. It's not like I'm giving away company secrets here. And the guys in the tech department want feedback from a military soldier anyway, so it's no big deal." Ash replied. Lunamaria said, "Then the next time we see each other. I'll give you my opinion."

"Thanks Lunamaria." Ash said. He looked at his watch and said, "I think you'd better take Lunamaria back to the Minerva. It's starting to get late, and we have to go visit a certain place."

Morina nodded and said, "C'mon, let's get going. I'll take the three girls with me alright?"

"Yeah that's fine." Ash replied. All five of them left the room and headed to the hangar. When they got there it seemed the loading of supplies were almost finished; there weren't as many crates coming in as they're used to. When Ash said goodbye the four girls got off the Serene and were walking through the facility to the entrance were the car was park.

They got in and Morina said, "Well girls, let's head out." The entrance opened as the car started up and left the facility.

As Morina was driving Lunamaria said, "Wow, today was way too interesting for my taste. Whew, finding out that one of my friends' dead sister is alive among other things is way too much."

"Don't worry Luna, it will sink in eventually." Mayu told her with Elena nodding. When they reached the port where the Minerva was Lunamaria said, "Well, I'll see you later Mayu, Elena, Morina."

"Yeah, see you later Luna." Mayu replied. Then Morina drove the car off back to the facility. Morina asked, "You think she'd keep her word?"

"I'm sure." Mayu replied, "She promised and I'm sure she'll keep it."

* * *

_Onogoro island - Orb memorial, around sunset_

Later Mayu, Ash and Morina had just come from the cemetery Celestial owned where Mayu's parents were buried. After paying their respects and Mayu telling them that she found Shinn, they decided to visit the memorial that was built on Onogoro. Despite living in Orb, ever since the battle of Orb, Mayu and the others never made the effort to come here. The three got word that Kira and Lacus would be visiting the memorial too so they decided to meet up there.

Now they were at the top part of the memorial looking out at the ocean. They saw Kira and Lacus standing in front of the monument in the middle of the field and Mayu called out, "Hey Kira, Lacus!"

The two turned and saw Mayu, Ash and Morina heading down the slope towards them. As they approached Ash said, "Hi Ms. Lacus, hey Glitters."

Kira said, "I thought I told you not to call me that Ash."

"I know, I'm just teasing with you man." Ash said with a smile, "So how everything going Kira?"

"Things are fine here. I heard that you guys were up there trying to break up Junius Seven." Kira replied.

"Yeah, those guys trying to drop it were nothing more than terrorists trying to justify that what they were doing were right." Morina said bitterly. Kira said, "Yeah, Athrun told me about it."

Mayu looked around and said, "Wow, this place sure is beautiful." She took out her cell phone and took a picture of the monument as she said, "I wish Shinn would see this."

"Shinn? Who's that?" Lacus asked.

"He's Mayu's brother, Shinn Asuka." Ash replied. Mayu showed the picture of her and Shinn from her wallet to Kira and Lacus. Kira's eyes widened a bit at the picture of Shinn and said, "Hey, that's the guy who was here earlier."

This caught Mayu's attention and asked, "He was here?!"

"Yeah, I think it was about fifteen minutes ago that he was here. He said it was his first time visiting the place too." Kira told them.

Mayu collapsed on her knees; she couldn't believe that Shinn was here only a moment ago. She felt like fate was mocking her or something. Ash went over to her and said, "Don't worry, once we see him again I'll tie him up so you can tell him yourself."

There was a small giggle from Mayu as she got up and said, "I don't think there's no need to go that far Ash."

Lacus also laughed a bit and said, "Well, I'm sure you'll get to tell him once you two see each other again." Morina told her, "It's going to be tough though, Shinn's a ZAFT mobile suit pilot."

"Eh, that is going to be tough." Kira said, as he heard some of the rules regarding interactions with the EA and ZAFT. Mayu sighed and said, "As long as both of us are alive there's still the chance of telling him. And seeing how my brother pilots I think he'll be fine, for the most part."

"Don't worry, Lunamaria will look out for him." Morina assured her.

Kira and Lacus wondered what they were talking about when Ash asked, "So where is everyone staying?"

"We're staying with Ms. Murrue and Mr. Waltfeld." Lacus told them. Mayu said, "Well, it was nice seeing you two again."

Kira said, "Yeah, it was nice seeing you again." Lacus added, "I heard that the Serene is heading for Eurasia to help with the relief effort. Good luck with that." The three figured that Mayumi must've contacted them somehow and told them the details. With that the two left the Memorial leaving the three together. Mayu looked out at the sunset thinking, 'Ha, with things the way they're going and another war about to start, I wonder when I'll see my brother again?'


	12. Departure with Payback

Chapter 12 – Departure with Payback

_October 12, C.E. 73 – Celestial's underground facility, Serene's harbor_

A few days later Ash and Morina were seeing everyone on the Serene off, mainly all the pilots and Natarle, who was with them. They learned that just last night that the Earth Alliance had declared war on the PLANTs and attacked them with nuclear weapons shortly after. But now everything was ready and the Serene was scheduled to depart soon. Mayu said, "So I guess we'll see you two later."

"It's going to be a while, depending on the circumstances." Morina said. Then she pretended to get all emotional saying, "Oh, they're going on their first mission without us. I hope they'll be alright."

"Stop acting like a mother Morina." Ash told her. Morina gave him a strange look and she said in a calm yet eerie voice, "A mother, am I?"

Ash gulped and said, "Uh, I mean a big sister. Yeah, a big sister."

Everyone sweat dropped as Morina said playfully, "Oh, Ash, don't say that." Ash rolled his eyes and addressed everyone, "You guys are going to be fine. Captain Natarle will take care of you guys, right Natarle?"

Natarle looked a bit unsure there as she replied, "Uh, yes, I will take care of them Ash." Ash chucked as he thought, 'Even after all this time, she's still a bit stiff in certain situations.' Morina said, "Everyone take care of yourselves alright? I don't want to hear stories of how some of you got mugged, or how Kazuki's going on trial because of a cross-dressing issue and being involved with the Eurasian Federation's president, or something."

Everyone laughed at that, even Kazuki because it sounded so ridiculous. Ash and Morina turned around and left as Ash said, "See you guys soon!" Everyone waved at them as the twins left the harbor. Natarle was the next to address them as she ordered, "Everyone is to be on standby until we arrive at our destination." All the pilots were surprised by this order so Natarle explained, "Now that there's another war going on we'll need to be on guard. A lot of rogue factions would find a ship like the Serene tempting, if you know what I mean."

They understood what she meant by their words when a voice came on the intercom saying, "Serene's departure scheduled in one hour, all personnel please report to your positions immediately."

"Let's head for the Serene now pilots." Natarle said.

"Yes captain!" All the pilots said as they saluted. Natarle smiled and thought, 'If only most of the Atlantic Federation was like this, then things would've definitely been different.' She followed the other pilots into the Serene.

* * *

_Serene – bridge, one hour later_

"First and secondary systems are coming online." Skyrin reported.

"All weapons systems are online and on standby captain." Lusia reported in.

"Reactor is stable and output is rising steadily." Yuuki reported.

"All first and secondary systems are fully functional captain. We are ready to leave anytime." Skyrin reported.

Natarle nodded and ordered, "Okay, Serene here, we are ready for departure!"

"Roger that Serene, you are clear for departure." An operator from the control room told them, "Opening floodgates." The floodgates opened and water started to pour in until it flooded the entire harbor. When the flooding was complete the operator said, "Opening main gate. Serene, you are clear for launch."

"Roger that control, Serene is moving out." Skyrin said as he started to slowly move the Serene forward. As this was going on Natarle thought, 'I hope Murrue and the others are doing okay.' Skyrin reported, "Serene is moving at a decent pace. Estimated time of breakthrough is seven minutes."

"Keep at it helmsman." Natarle ordered. For some reason Natarle felt that this journey will be different from all the others. Little did she know that the first step was a lot closer than she thought it would be.

* * *

_Serene – medical bay_

While the pilots were getting ready to go on standby in their machines, Mayu first headed over to the infirmary to see Liana. The door opened and Liana said, "Ah, Mayu. I'm guessing you're here for that check up?"

"Yes Dr. Muris, I just want to make sure my prosthetic is working properly. I don't want something to go wrong while I'm on the job." Mayu told her.

"I understand. Why don't you take a seat?" Liana said, pointing to the nearby chair. Mayu sat down on it and rolled up her sleeve on her left arm, revealing the prosthetic. Since prosthetics have improved greatly over the years, and that this one was created by Natalie, it would've been very hard to tell that it was a prosthetic and not a real arm. The only way was the thin line that showed where the prosthetic was attached.

Liana had Mayu go through several exercises with her arm to make sure that everything was working fine. Ten minutes later they were done with Liana saying, "Everything looks alright. It's working like it's should be, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Mayu straightened her sleeve and said, "Thanks Dr. Muris, I appreciate it." Liana noticed something wrong in Mayu's eyes and asked, "Is something the matter Mayu?"

"Huh? Uh, what make's you think that?" Mayu asked. Liana smiled replying, "I can see it in your eyes; something's bothering you right?"

For a moment Mayu was silent, then she replied, "It's about my brother…"

"Yes, I heard about your situation, about how your brother is a ZAFT pilot, and about the special rule Celestial has about relations between ZAFT and the EA." Liana said. Mayu sighed and complained, "I just don't get it. I had plenty of chances to tell him, but Ash and Morina stopped me." She shook her head and said, "I just don't get it sometimes."

Liana thought about it for a moment, then asked her, "Have you heard about the story of what happened with the issue involving Celestial and ZAFT back in the first war?"

"Yes, but not in full details, if that's what you mean." Mayu replied.

"Here, let me tell you everything," Liana said as Mayu turned to face her, "I'll go straight to the point since you're on duty and all. Let's see, Morina was a redcoat and one heck of a pilot. When she left ZAFT and joined Celestial, ZAFT wanted her to come back, since she was an ace pilot and all. Celestial argued that Morina had officially left ZAFT and was under the care of Celestial, but they argued that Morina was valuable to them, no matter what state of mind she was in." Mayu was shocked at that part as Liana went on, "When Celestial, or rather, President Mayumi didn't budge on the subject, ZAFT went as far as threatening Celestial, not on the surface of course but in the matter of assassination threats towards Ash and Nanami. Soon late Chairman Clyne had gotten wind of it and managed to make them back off, along with how they saw Morina acting hysterical when she heard about the threats convinced them to stop going after her. After the whole deal was taken care of Mayumi added a whole bunch of rules to prevent something like that from happening."

Mayu was a bit pale after hearing that story, but Liana assured her, "That was when the late Chairman Zala was in charge of ZAFT, and let me tell you Lenore didn't like what was happening. But now I doubt that something like that would happen again, ZAFT wise."

Then suddenly the ship shook a bit and Liana said, "Well, that must be the Serene breaking through to the surface. You better get going Mayu."

Mayu jumped up and ran out the room, but not before saying, "Sorry, but I gotta get changed now Dr. Muris!"

"Come back and we'll talk a bit more." Liana said before Mayu left the infirmary. When Mayu left Liana thought, 'Poor girl, she has a number of things on her mind. But I know she's strong, she managed to stay alive after the battle of Orb after all.'

* * *

_Unknown Carrier – bridge_

Five Earth Alliance carriers were waiting near a clump of islands close to Orb's border. Normally one would think that they would be waiting for the Minerva to come out so they could attack it. But the reason that they were there was completely different. The captain on board had trouble believing the orders that he was given. He thought, 'To test the prototype pilot AI system on the Serene. What kind of orders are these, to attack people trying to help the world?!'

That was when a subordinate came up and said, "All the AIs are up and running sir. All Daggers and Windams are ready to go too."

Then a man in a lab coat came up onto the bridge. He had short dark brown hair and grey eyes that were behind a pair of glasses. He said, "Now let's see how this prototype AI will handle against the mighty Serene." The captain asked, "They are strong you know, despite being a humanitarian organization Professor Kino."

"I don't mind if they shoot them all down." Professor Kino told them, surprising everyone on the bridge, "In fact I'm expecting that. The mainframes controlling them will have all the data recorded so it doesn't matter if they're totally destroyed. The AI I developed will grow and become more skilled the more battles it comes in contact with. This has been in development for over two years so something should show results."

"I see, and what about the pilots from Celestial?" The captain asked.

"Don't worry, to break the AI in I've set the function to disable only, so they should be fine." Professor Kino told them. The captain sighed and asked, "So why are we going after the Serene and not the Minerva? Last I checked the Minerva was part of ZAFT and therefore is our enemy?"

Professor Kino simply replied, "Because, the Serene has more experienced pilots, not to mention that there's more of them." 'And I want to see what my sister's been up to all these years.' He added as an after thought.

An operator reported, "Sir, the Serene has passed Orb's border. Your orders captain?"

"Send out all the machines, it's time to get this test over and done with." The captain said. Professor Kino went over to his laptop that was connected to the AI's mainframe to monitor the data flow coming in from the battle.

* * *

_Serene – Hangar_

Mayu just finished changing into her pilot suit and was now hanging out with the others talking. Suddenly the alarm went off and Marianne's voice came on the intercom saying, "All pilots board your machines. Unknown mobile suits consisting of 105 Daggers and Windams and are approaching."

"What? If they're Daggers and Windams then they must be the Earth Alliance!" Antino shouted as he climbed into his Claymore.

Silenna snapped back, "You idiot, if they really were the Alliance then the guys on the bridge would've figured it out already."

"That's enough, let's just go out there and beat them back already!" Mayu shouted. Antino smirked and said, "Now you're talking my language!" Everyone just shook their heads as they boarded their machines. Marianne's face appeared in their cockpits as she briefed them, "There are approximately twenty 105 Daggers and thirty Windams coming in right in front of us. We've tried contacting them but nothing's gone through, not to mention that there's no visible carriers around. The captain thinks they're Earth Forces since Windams are out there, so use disabling attacks on the mobile suits until we can figure out more."

"Roger that Marianne. Strike E, moving to Starboard catapult." Mayu said. Elena followed with her prerecorded voice, "Rosso Aegis, heading for Port Catapult." The Strike E was loaded onto the catapult with the Noir Striker pack being attached. When it was all done the lights were all green as Marianne said, "Strike Noir, Rosso Aegis, you are clear for launch."

"Strike Noir, Mayu Asuka, launching!" The Strike Noir catapulted out of the Serene followed by the Rosso Aegis. When the Blu Duel, Verde Buster, Nero Blitz, and Aile Strike came out all the 105 Daggers went into attack mode and gunned for the Serene. The Strike Noir, Rosso Aegis, Blu Duel, Nero Blitz, and Strike flew off to intercept them. The Verde Buster landed on the Serene's deck and provided artillery fire for the others. The Silver Frame, Ruby Frame, and Sapphire Frame came out shortly afterwards and went into the fighting after them, the Silver and Ruby joining up with the others while the Sapphire helped with artillery support.

* * *

_Serene – Bridge_

Meanwhile Natarle was busy giving orders to the bridge crew, "Lusia, set Igelstellungs to rifle mode, make sure they target limbs or weapon systems only. Kain, have you found anything else out there?"

"No captain, there's no carriers out there on radar. If there are carriers then they're out of range or in hiding!" Kain reported.

'Tch, just where are those things coming from?!' Natarle thought. Marianne shouted, "Three Daggers coming in from port ma'am."

"Evade and return fire!" Natarle shouted, causing Skyrin to steer hard as the Serene fired it's Igelstellgungs at the incoming mobile suits.

* * *

_Outside Orb's border – battlefield_

As the Serene moved to a better position Synar and Mayura were busy disabling Daggers that came in using compressed plasma sniper shots. Synar shouted, "What's with these guys, their movements are too predicable!"

"Yeah, it's like the moments are, uh, mechanical in some way." Mayura replied as she shot another Dagger in the head and left arm.

Meanwhile Mayu and the others were now engaging the Windams after dealing with all the Daggers that didn't get away. They noticed that the Windams were slightly better than the Daggers but found that their movements weren't normal. Mayu said, "These guys, their movements are too stiff for some reason." She slashed off a Windam's head and right arm as she said this.

"No kidding, it's like these Windams and Daggers are piloted by machines!" Flay shouted as she fired her beam rifle at incoming Windams. The Strike grouped together with the Silver and Ruby Frames shooting down Windams. The Claymore was hacking off limbs off of each Windam it encountered, the Blu Duel, Nero Blitz, and Barrett grouped together and took down the Windams that came after them, while the Strike Noir and Rosso Aegis had charged together to the core of the attacking fleet handling the Windams along the way.

As Mayu kept on firing with her Shorty beam rifles she thought, 'I hope this is all of them.' Little did she know she just jinxed herself by thinking that.

* * *

_Unknown carrier – bridge_

Professor Kino was observing the data coming in from the machines. To the others they didn't have much of a clue what he was looking at, but he was pleased at was coming in. To him everything was going as planned when one of the operators said, "Captain, four allied vessels are approaching our location. They want to talk to Professor Kino."

"Put them on." The captain ordered. A moment later a girl in her early twenties, with long brown hair and matching eyes of a lighter shade, wearing a lab coat over her causal clothes, appeared on the monitor. Professor Kino looked up and was a bit surprised to see the girl. He said, "Marisa Lee Noriega, this is a surprise. I thought I told you to stay at the lab."

"Sorry Professor," Marisa said to him, "But our benefactors wanted to bring you more test subjects, as well as testing the new mobile armor they developed, the Zamzah-Zah."

"Oh really?" Professor Kino said curiously, "Are the machines already outfitted with the core modules?"

"Yes Professor, all you need to do is connect them to the mainframe and they'll be good to go." Marisa informed her. Professor Kino said, "Excellent, you really are on top of things Marisa."

"Of course Professor, I'm not your only assistant for nothing you know." Marisa said smugly as the connection cut. Then Professor Kino turned his attention to the captain and said, "As you heard, four other carriers are approaching, so I think the four we have can go back to base now. Is that alright with you?"

"Yes, since none of the Daggers or Windams we sent out are coming back in one piece. Tell the other carriers to head back to base!" The captain ordered.

"Yes sir." The operator replied as he went through with his orders. Another operator reported, "Only ten Windams left sir!"

The captain was silent as they saw ten more Windams fly overhead from their present carriers, since two were kept in reserve on each ship. Professor Kino thought, 'This just got a lot more interesting.' Then he started to work on connecting the incoming machines to the mainframe.

* * *

_Outside Orb's border – battlefield_

Everyone was busy fighting the remaining eight Windams one on one. Luri was forced to join Synar and Mayura since one of her flight thrusters was damaged by a Windam before she shot it down. Everyone else was finding fighting the Windams a bit tougher than usual. Mayu as having a hard time as she switched to her beam blades as she thought, 'What's with these guys, suddenly they get better the more time passes?! Something's definitely up!'

The Strike Noir just dodged a slash from her opponent, and did a sharp turn stabbing the Windam in the head while slicing off part of it's Jet Striker pack. As she watched it fall into the ocean Marianne's voice came on saying, "Everyone be careful. Radar just picked up ten more Windams heading in your direction."

"What the heck did we do?!" Juri shouted as one of her beam boomerangs sliced off her opponent Windam's rifle arm. She followed up with a punch to the head, sending it crashing into the ocean.

"Who cares?! All we need to do is defeat the enemy in front of us!" Antino shouted as the Claymore cleaved the arms and winds off of the Windam he was facing. Silenna agreed saying, "We can figure that out later, these guys are getting better!" The Blu Duel got to the side and fired it's rifle right through it's Jet Striker pack, making it fall like a brick into the ocean.

The ten Windams arrived and engaged the Serene's mobile suits. Most of them went after the ones that didn't have opponents as the Serene approached their location, providing artillery support. To their surprise, these Windams seem to be better than the previous ones but not by too much. It just took longer to defeat them as Mayu shouted, "I think that's the rest of them…"

Suddenly Marianne's voice came on and said, "All pilots be careful, we just picked up thirty more Windams and an unknown mobile armor approaching." Asagi shot down an incoming Windam as she said, "You know Mayu, you shouldn't jinx us like that."

"I didn't mean it!" Mayu shouted as the Strike Noir shot at two Windams with it's linear guns. One of them got it in the shield shoulder while the other one managed to dodge, but it skinned it's right wing. Mayu was surprised by this but went after them with her beam blades.

Elena just fired her Scylla cannon, arcing it so that it hit five Windams in the head and Striker pack. Only three were hit and by the time the other two managed to get back on track the Rosso Aegis was already on them beam sabers ignited. Meanwhile six Windams went after the Serene, and Flay, Asagi, and Juri went after them, only managing to cut off three of them. Mayura, Synar, and Luri were busy trying to shoot them down on their positions on the deck and on top of the Gottfrieds. Antino, Silenna, and Kazuki were busy fighting off nine Windams simultaneously and Kazuki said over the radio, "Hey, is it just me or are these guys better than the previous ones?"

"He's right, their movements are getting better. I'm having trouble trying to shoot them down!" Luri shouted as she fired her beam rifles at the Windams.

Antino was busy trying to fight off this one particular Windam when he actually aimed for the cockpit with is beam sabers. He realized what he was about to do and he drew his sabers back at the last minute, but they managed to cut off the cockpit hatch of the Windam and to his surprise, there was some kind of mechanical core where the pilot should be. He managed to take a snapshot before stabbing his saber right through the cockpit, making it explode. Synar noticed what he did and shouted, "Hey Antino what do you think you're doing?!"

"Stuff it bro, and everyone, take a look at this," Antino uploaded the picture of the mechanical core to all the pilots and the bridge crew of the Serene, "I don't think the Windams are piloted by humans, and it may explain their stiff movements earlier."

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

Everyone on the bridge was quite surprised at the picture. When Antino voiced his opinion this made Natarle think, 'This sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.' Then Natarle ordered, "Bring all weapons to full status! Switch Igelstellungs to intercept mode and bring the Gottfrieds to full power. All pilots are allowed to terminate the enemy with extreme prejudice. If those Windams are all controlled by some kind of AI then they need to be eliminated immediately."

"Roger that ma'am, bringing all weapons to full combat status. Switching Igelstellungs to intercept mode, and bringing Gottfrieds to full power." Lusia replied.

"Sapphire, Barrett, please move to the decks. Gottfrieds are coming online." Marianne said over the radio.

"Roger that Serene." Mayura and Luri replied as they moved to the deck. "Gottfrieds are online ma'am, and ready to fire." Lusia reported.

"Okay, take aim," Natarle waited until they were in targeting range and Marianne warned, "All airborne pilots, the Serene's about to fire it's Gottfrieds!" When the aim was on target, she shouted, "Fire!"

* * *

Outside Orb's border – battlefield

The sudden change in tactics from the pilots caught the Windams slightly off guard, as ten of them were shot down in an instant, with five more following. Then Marianne's voice came on saying, "All airborne pilots, the Serene's about to fire it's Gottfrieds!" Mayu shouted, "Everyone, scatter!"

All eight machines broke off as the Serene's Gottfrieds fired into the group of Windams, destroying five of them while barely skinning three others. That was when Marianne said, "Five Windams and the unknown mobile armor are heading in your direction Mayu!"

"Say what?" Mayu shouted as a warning went off in her cockpit. She turned to the source and saw five Windams and the Zamza-zah approach her at high speed. Mayu shouted, "What the heck is that?! A flying crab?!"

Elena, Kazuki, and Synar turned to see them with Elena and Kazuki joining Mayu. Synar reported, "Serene, we have a butt-ugly flying crab heading right for Mayu. And it's pretty big too."

"We'll roast it then. Kain, turn the Serene to the mobile armor's location. Aim Gottfrieds at the unknown mobile armor." They heard Natarle say over the communications line. A moment later another shot from the Gottfrieds headed towards the Zamza-zah. To everyone's surprise, the Windam's scattered but the Zamza-zah didn't move. When it's positron deflector came up it blocked the shots like it was nothing. Mayu said, "What the heck was that? It looked like a lightwave barrier!"

Then the Windams went after Elena and Kazuki, causing them to split off from Mayu. This left the Zamza-zah and Strike Noir to face each other as Mayu said, "Okay you overgrown flying crab, come and get me!"

Meanwhile the fight between the Windams and Serene's mobile suits got rough as Antino said, "Dammit, Serene I need to come in. I lost both of my anti-ship swords and the Claymore's left arm." The anti-ship swords were blown up by beam rifle shots and the left arm was lost due to a Windam nearly sneaking up on him with a beam saber. That's when he saw Flay get attacked by a Windam and she shot it down, but not before the Windam shot through her Aile Striker pack, causing her to eject it before it exploded. The Claymore swept down and grabbed the Strike by the arm with Antino saying, "You need a lift Flay?"

"Thanks Antino, thought I was going to swim back to the Serene." Flay replied. Antino smirked and radioed in, "Synar, we need a little cover fire here."

"Already on it. Full Burst Mode, fire!" Synar said as his entire arsenal fired off at the Windams. One of the Serene's hangars opened and both mobile suits entered the hangar with the Claymore dropping of the Strike before landing itself.

Back to the battle things were getting better, but the Windams were starting to adapt again as they were becoming harder to shoot down. Mayu meanwhile had a hard time with the Zamza-zah, since all the shots she fired were deflected by the positron deflector. She had already lost two of her rocket anchors and had the sears on the Strike Noir's armor to prove it. She said to herself, "Shoot, this thing's tougher than I thought."

That was when her eye caught the Rosso Aegis fighting three Windams. When she saw one of the Windams blow off the Rosso Aegis' right arm she shouted, "Elena!" However this slight distraction caused the Zamza-zah to take advantage of it and it grabbed the Strike Noir by the left arm. Mayu got angry as she shouted, "Errgh, get off of me you stupid crab!" With that she entered SEED mode and before the Zamza-zah could cut off the Strike Noir's arm with it's heat claw, the Strike Noir took out it's beam blade and cut the claw off of the Zamza-zah, causing it to explode.

When the two separated the Strike Noir's arm looked mangled, due to the Claw cutting through the Phase Shift armor before exploding. Mayu was dead calm as she went after the Zamza-zah with deadly precision. She fired her linear guns at point blank range and while the positron deflector blocked the shot, the explosion caused the Zamza-zah to fly back. Mayu took advantage of that as the Strike Noir flew in after it and used it's beam blade to slice right through the underbelly of the Zamza-zah, causing it to explode.

Mayu looked on as the Zamza-zah's remains fell into the ocean. Then she turned to see that the other Windams were dealt with already. The Rosso Aegis appeared next to the Strike Noir as Elena's face appeared in Mayu's cockpit. Elena was a bit surprised by the state of her eyes but wrote, "Are you alright Mayu?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine." Mayu replied with a smile as she came out of SEED mode. The Nero Blitz came up and Kazuki's face appeared beside Elena's saying, "Whew, that battle was intense. Especially the one between you and the overgrown flying crab. I got to say Mayu, that was pretty amazing."

Mayu was a but to say something but noticed that part of the Nero Blitz's head was missing and Mayu asked, "What the heck happened to the Blitz's head Kazuki?"

"Tried to dodge a beam saber, but barely got away." Kazuki answered, "C'mon, I think that was all of them so we better head back to the Serene." The Nero Blitz headed back to the Serene followed by the Strike Noir and Rosso Aegis.

* * *

_Unknown carrier – bridge_

"All units have been destroyed sir." An operator reported. Professor Kino was quite surprised to see that partway through the battle, the Serene's mobile suits suddenly changed tactics and went all out on destroying the Windams completely. He decided to check on all the accumulated data later as he said, "Well captain, this operation was quite successful. We should see if we can salvage some of the mobile suits."

"Agreed. Everyone, once the Serene is out of radar range we'll begin salvaging what's left of the mobile suits, particularly the cockpits if they're intact." The captain ordered.

"Yes sir!" Everyone on the bridge replied. That was when Marisa was escorted onto the bridge by a couple of soldiers. One of the soldiers that escorted her said, "Miss Noriega is here to see you Professor Kino."

Professor Kino turned to her and said, "Ah, Marisa, come here, I need you to go over some of the combat data in the mainframe." He pointed to his laptop and Marisa said, "Of course Professor."

When Marisa went over to the laptop to begin working Professor Kino thought, 'My, my, you sure have been busy little sis. Not to mention Actaeon's upgraded mobile suits are quite something. Though, that original Aile Strike on the battlefield, it's performance was quite interesting. I wonder…'

* * *

_Serene – hangar, half an hour later_

Mayu and the others were out of their pilot suits and in their uniforms, as they met up with Natarle on the bridge. They were going over the last battle as the Serene got back on course for Eastern Eurasia. When they came to the subject where the picture Antino took popped up Mayu asked, "What the heck is that?"

"From what we could tell, it was the AI module controlling the mobile suits." Natarle replied, "I'm think there was something like this in the Alliance back in 71 but I can't put my finger on it. It was more of a rumor going around the Alliance members."

"Since those Windams were coming at us in large numbers they probably were Alliance forces. The question is, why come after us?" Luri asked them.

Synar brought up the battle footage and when he took a closer look, he said, "I think they were testing their weapons on us."

"What makes you say that Synar?" Natarle asked. Synar replied, "Look at how the enemy mobile suits fought us. Even as they got better they never aimed for the cockpit areas. My guess is that they were breaking in the new AI using us as test subjects."

This made everyone a bit pissed as Asagi shouted, "I can't believe it! The Alliance sure has a lot of nerve attacking us for a reason like that!"

"Hey, what will Celestial do when they catch word of this?" Flay asked. All of them turned to Natarle which unnerved her a bit. She coughed and said, "The President will probably make an enquiry about this but honestly, I bet that the Alliance will deny the whole thing, saying it was probably a rogue faction or something."

"Yeah, twenty Daggers, sixty five Windams, and some mobile armor crab that's probably a new design. Try denying those numbers." Silenna said sarcastically.

"Well, there's nothing we can do at this point. I'll send a report to HQ about this so everyone can get some rest." Natarle said. They all nodded and left the bridge, with Natarle still miffed about the thing that she was trying to remember.

* * *

_October 14, CE 73 – Orb Airspace_

The Justice and Freedom were flying a bit far from the Orb fleet that was escorting the Minerva. The two machines were under Mirage Colloid that was recently installed into them by Natalie. Morina asked, "Why are we out here again?"

"We're to make sure the Minerva makes it out of Orb in one piece, president's orders. That's why Natalie installed Mirage Colloid generators just for this mission." Ash replied. Morina asked again, "Okay, but won't this cause trouble between the Orb government and Celestial though?"

Ash answered her, "President Mayumi said that she would handle everything. She also said that we're 'repaying the debt' to the Alliance if they happen to show up."

"Yeah, that reminds me," Morina said, "Do you really think that it was the Earth Alliance that attack the Serene a couple of days ago?"

"Practically everyone who's read the report thinks so. I mean no rogue faction would have sixty five Windams, and an unknown mobile armor that uses some kind of new shielding to boot. If there was, we would've heard something about it." Ash told her.

"I guess so." Morina said. Then her radar went off as she said, "Hey, I think the Minerva's got company!"

The two mobile suits flew overhead of the battle to see the Impulse and two ZAKUs fight off a horde of Windams. Ash said, "Why don't we make our appearance sis?"

"Of course big brother." Morina said as both their targeting scopes locked on to targets. While still under Mirage Colloid both the Justice and the Freedom fired their arsenal at the Windam fleet, disabling all the mobile suits and causing most of them to drop like bricks in some cases.

Everyone on the battlefield was shocked to see shots come in from nowhere. On the Minerva Talia shouted, "What was that, were the heck did those shots come from?!"

"Ma'am, two mobile suits have just appeared on the battlefield from Mirage Colloid. Matching signatures, it's the Justice and Freedom!" Meyrin shouted.

The Justice and Freedom flew beside the Minerva as Ash initiated contact with the crew, "Minerva? This is Ash of the Freedom, me and the Justice will be your escorts out of this mess." The Freedom initiated it's Full Burst Mode as cover fire afterwards, shooting down three more Windams.

"The Justice and Freedom…Celestial?!" Arthur shouted. Talia replied, "What are your intentions Agent Ash?"

"As my brother said before, we're here to help you Captain Gladys. Also we want to pay back the Alliance for that little incident two days ago." Morina told her.

Talia wondered what she meant when Shinn came on shouting, "What the heck are you guys doing here?! We can handle this ourselves!"

Both Ash and Morina just ignored him as they went off and engaged the Windams. Ash fired his rifle with quick precision while Morina went into close combat and was slicing off heads, arms and Striker packs like a surgeon. On the Minerva's bridge Talia ordered, "Tag the Justice and Freedom as friendly for now. We need all the help we can get at the moment."

Back on the battlefield the number of Windams was decreasing thanks to the Justice and Freedom. Apparently there were a lot more in reserve as Ash said, "Whew, there's so many of these guys!" He did another Full Burst to take down a squad of Windams. Morina was using her beam boomerangs and beam sabers to hack apart the Windams without killing the pilots. She complained, "Argh, it would be better to just destroy them in one shot, but that would be going against policy."

That was when they got a warning and on the Minerva's bridge, Burt Hein reports, "Unknown approaching from the fleet ma'am!"

"Can you get a visual?" Talia asked. Meyrin replied, "Putting it on screen ma'am."

As the Zamza-zah approached Ash and Morina noticed it and Ash said, "Hey, isn't that the mobile armor that was part of the attack on the Serene?"

After the Justice sliced up another Windam Morina turned to take a look and replied, "I think so, it looks exactly like the one from the report." Morina had to turn her attention to a pair of Windams that tried to attack her with their beam sabers. She dodged and shot through the head and Striker pack of one Windam as she passed them.

The Freedom was busy shooting Windams with it's rifle that Ash barely had time to notice the Minerva take out it's Tannhauser. He shouted to Morina, "We'd better stay clear of the flying crab, I think the Minerva's going to fire it's positron cannon!"

"Shoot!" Morina considered going after the Zamza-zah but pulled back quickly after hearing Ash's warning. Then she remembered something and asked, "But what about that special barrier that the mobile armor has from the report?!"

Since their communications were open everyone on the bridge heard it a second after Talia gave the okay to fire. She couldn't recall her orders but figured that the special barrier wouldn't hold up to the positron blast anyway. To her and the rest of the bridge crew's shock the Zamza-zah was still there even though a few ships exploded from the blast.

Even Ash and Morina were stumped as Morina said, "I knew that barrier could deflect beam weaponry but even a positron blast?! Now that's just crazy!"

"Well, at least we know that it isn't invincible. We'll just have to take it out a close range then!" Ash shouted but he was cut off by a dozen Windams in his path. He saw that the Justice was also boxed in and that the Impulse was heading over to engage it. The Freedom went into HiMAT mode and Ash thought, 'I guess it's up to Shinn on this one. Let's just hope he doesn't die out there, Mayu wouldn't take it well.'

On the Minerva Lunamaria and Rey were taking down Windams. Rey was busy defending his side of the ship while Lunamaria was doing the same. She was glad Ash and Morina arrived to help, since the Justice and Freedom were powerful machines. But she got distracted thinking and let a Windam sneak up on her. It had it's beam rifle out and Lunamaria couldn't bring her plasma cannon around in time. The Windam was about to fire and she braced herself when the rifle was blown out of the Windam's hand. Next think it knew it's arms and Striker pack were destroyed by beam sabers. Lunamaria looked and saw the Justice right beside her ZAKU where the Windam used to be. Morina shouted, "Don't get distracted Luna!"

"Right!" Lunamaria shouted back as she brought her plasma cannon around and started firing at the Windams. Meanwhile the Freedom managed to get the squad of Windams off it's back and went over to help the Impulse against the Zamza-zah. However the mobile armor had latched onto the Impulse's leg as it's VPS armor faded, causing the Zamza-zah to snap through it's leg and throw it into the ocean.

As Shinn was falling it was like his life was flashing before his eyes. The last thing he saw, however was Mayu in her Celestial uniform smiling. He thought, 'No, I can't die here!' That was when his SEED activated and the Impulse managed to fly when it almost hit the water.

Ash managed to catch the Zamza-zah's attention by firing at Full Burst at the mobile armor. The positron deflector managed to block all five shots as Ash shouted, "Damn, that shield even blocked that!" He backed away as both he and Morina felt a sensation when Shinn activated his SEED. He looked around for the source and felt it coming off of the Impulse. He made a secret communication to Morina saying, "Hey, did you feel that Morina?"

"Yes, it's coming off of Shinn right?" Morina said.

"That's right, it looks like both siblings have the SEED. That's quite interesting, isn't it?" Ash said. The Justice had to dodge incoming fire from three Windams as Morina replied, "Well, it's kind of like Kira and Cagalli you know."

The Impulse was being recharged by the Deuterion beam. Ash was busy trying to find a way to disable the Zamza-zah but had a hard time figuring out where to hit it. That was when Shinn shouted, "Get out of the way!"

"What the?!" Ash had to maneuver the Freedom out of the way as the Impulse came rushing in after the Zamza-zah. Ash shook his head at how rude Shinn sounded was just now, even if it was in the heat of battle. That was when twenty Windams were coming straight for him and the Justice flew right beside the Freedom. Morina shouted, "I think that's most of them. Let's take them out!"

"Of course." Ash said as the Freedom took out both beam sabers as the shield was put on it's waist. The Justice had both sabers out as well and the two charged towards the Windams. Most of the Windams were disabled, though some were outright destroyed due to Ash and Morina's reflexive actions.

As the number of Windams died down the two saw in amazement that the Impulse had switched to it's Sword Silhouette and started to reign havoc on the Alliance's ships. When the last of the Windams had fallen the Justice and Freedom fell back to the Minerva and cut all communications. A private line opened up between them and Morina said, "This, this looks more like a massacre than a battle in some aspects."

"Yeah, at least Mayu isn't here to see this. I don't know how she would react." Both siblings could feel the hostility coming off of Shinn as the Impulse tore through his sixth ship. That was when the few remaining Windams along with rest of the ships fell back and retreated. As the Alliance fleet retreated the two got a call from the Minerva. They answered it and Talia's face appeared in their cockpits. She said, "Well, let me say thank you for your assistance Agent Ash and Morina."

"It's no problem Captain, you guys helped save Earth from becoming a wasteland. You guys deserve a break." Morina told her.

Ash nodded and Talia smiled saying, "That's true, and I'm sorry about Orb's situation."

"We understand, and we wish all of you luck." Ash was about to cut the channel when he remembered, "Oh, and one more thing," This made Talia and the others wonder what he was going to say, "Tell Shinn that he needs to work on his attitude in battle. I know it was in the heat of battle but he sounded quite rude when he told me to 'get out of the way'. See ya!"

Ash and Morina cut communications as the Justice and Freedom flew away and disappeared under Mirage Colloid. Shinn heard what Ash said and said over the line, "I would've apologized you know."

Lunamaria smirked as she started to see how Shinn and Mayu were siblings. As her and Rey's ZAKUs headed back to the hangar she thought, 'At first I found it hard to believe they were related due to how they acted but now I'm starting to see it.'

Meanwhile Ash and Morina had to take a detour back into Orb since they involved themselves in that battle. Even though the Orb military and government couldn't touch them, if they were to enter Orb by the fleet they were certain they would be attacked, since the Seirans were taking charge. They dropped Mirage Colloid and they happened to pass the place where Kira and Lacus were staying.

The two saw the Justice and Freedom fly overhead and didn't say anything about it. In the cockpits Ash said, "Hey, wasn't that Kira and Lacus? Were they watching the battle?"

"Looked like it. C'mon we'd better head back to the facility before the Orb Military catches us." Morina told him. The two mobile suits made their way to the underground facility with haste and they managed to get in before the Murasames could come around.

* * *

_Serene – Mayu and Elena's room_

Both Mayu and Elena were in their beds ready to turn in for the night. The got a message earlier that the Minerva was attacked by the Earth Forces and thanks to the intervention of the Justice and Freedom, they were able to survive.

Mayu however felt a bit queasy when she read that the Impulse destroyed the Zamza-zah, and proceeded to destroy six ships before they retreated. She was glad she wasn't there to see that, since seeing Shinn kill so many pilots and soldiers would've probably made her sick. Mayu didn't like killing others, pirates or otherwise. She learned to deal with it but she would never like it. Mayu remembered Ash telling her once, "We all hate killing, but as pilots we risk our live out there and it's usually them or us, since most of them have a killing mindset."

A sigh came out of Mayu as she turned and saw Elena's sleeping face. For some reason it calmed her and before she knew it Mayu fell asleep.


	13. Questions

Chapter 13 – Questions

_October 16, CE 73_

Mayumi had returned to Orb yesterday and the instant she landed Orb officials had approached the plane she was on. They said that she was to appear in front of the Orb government for the incident with the Justice and Freedom aiding the Minerva. She and some of her staff, namely her lawyer, had appeared to the Seirans and the other ministers and they were trying very hard to discredit Celestial.

In all honesty Mayumi wanted to tell the Seirans to screw themselves and to butt out of Celestial's business but for several reasons, one of which Cagalli was present, she played her cards right. She managed to get off without any problems do the reasons she stated. The Seirans argued that the Justice and Freedom, Celestial's property, had attacked the Earth Alliance forces, which they said was against Orb's intentions and Yuna added that Celestial should be dismantled for that action. Mayumi argued that Celestial is an independent organization, not part of the Orb military or any part of the government, and so they do not answer to the Orb government in anyway, due to the agreement signed back in January CE 71.

This went on for a while with the Seirans bringing up accusations and Mayumi brining up justifications. In the end, Mayumi pointed out that this was a waste of time and that the time spent here couldn't have been used to help coordinate the relief effort. She was thankful that Cagalli was on her side and Mina's appearance made things a lot smoother.

Now today with the Serene heading for Eastern Eurasia, Mayumi made her own plans to make a tour with the Relief II, which was making it's way from one of Celestial's bases in a few days. She was working around the clock sorting reports and what not, with Nanami, Lenore, and Via's help.

* * *

_Celestial's underground facility, Natalie's lab_

Meanwhile Natalie was busy analyzing the videos that came with the Serene's report. She found them quite interesting as her attention shifted to the picture of the control core Antino took a picture of. Natalie found the whole thing familiar since she actually knew what it was. She said to herself, 'So Nathan, you finally finished the Combat Pilot AI project huh?'

Before Natalie joined Celestial she was with the Earth Alliance, or more specifically, the Atlantic Federation, developing new technology for the Alliance. She was one of the people, along with her brother Nathan, working on special projects. But a few months after the Bloody Valentine tragedy she found out that Blue Cosmos had somehow wormed their way into most of the Atlantic Federation's top brass. So she resigned after finishing the plans for the latest project she worked on, the G-weapons project. After wandering around a bit Celestial sent her an offer to work for them that she was more than happy to accept. The only thing she was sad about was the fact that Nathan decided to stay. Natalie tried to convince her brother but he refused, saying something about not leaving until his AI project was completed. In the end, he was too stubborn and they haven't had contact with each other since.

After looking over the data for a while she turned her attention to the schematics for the ZGMF-X14A Faith. After Mayumi had come back she unlocked the container the Junk Guild had brought back with them from Mars she ordered Natalie to look over it. Since it was a combination of the five ZGMF-XA units it had various features combined into them. It had the body of the Justice but slightly slimmer, with the head similar to the Freedom's. It had six wings and the Balena plasma cannons of the Freedom. On it's waist it had total of six DRAGOON pods, two on each side and two more at the back. To her surprise it was able to transform into a mobile armor, which made it look a bit weird to look at as the HiMAT wings made it look like some bulky jet, with the DRAGOON pods functioning as beam cannons. One more thing they integrated into it was the ability to mount either the Launcher or Sword Striker packs onto it. Natalie wondered what the heck the people on Mars were thinking when they designed this. From what she could see, this thing needed a nuclear fusion reactor to power a mobile suit of this degree, and it was only thanks to the N-Jammers that it wasn't working. Natalie's final thought on this was, 'This machine's a battle dominator…'

Natalie made a note in the Faith's files that the pilot required to pilot such a machine would have to be ace pilot material. Not to mention that they would need to have a high degree of Spatial Awareness for the DRAGOON system. The last thing would be a heavily customized OS for the mobile suit, since it had too many special features for a regular one.

That was when Natalie remembered the attachment that came with the mobile suit. The Junk Guild said that it was from the president of Celestial's branch on Mars, and it sounded quite interesting.

* * *

_Flashback, Oct 15, CE 73 - Celestial's underground facility, mobile suit hangar_

_ Mayumi was with Via, Lenore, Nanami, and Natalie looking at the Faith after unlocking the container. She was also holding what looked like a blackberry, except it didn't have as many buttons. The note attached to it said that there was a message for Mayumi on it, along with instructions on how to work the gadget._

_ When Mayumi pressed a button that said to play the message a woman's face appeared on the screen. To their surprise she looked like an older version of Mayumi facially. The woman said, "Hi sis, it's me Yumina!" This caught Mayumi by surprise as Via, Lenore and Natalie looked at each other, looking confused. Nanami asked, "Yumina? Isn't that the name of your sister that went to Mars twenty years ago?"_

_ Mayumi nodded as the messaged played on, "I'm sure you're surprised to see me again. Believe me when I say I found it quite surprising to find that you've become Celestial's president on Earth. I bet you weren't expecting this when I say that I'm Celestial's president on Mars too!" Mayumi looked a bit pale as the information hit her like a sledgehammer. Nanami went over and held Mayumi by the shoulders since she looked like she was about to fall over._

_ The message went on, "I'm so glad to see you again sis, it's been so long. I've missed you so much and I'm sure you've felt the same way. Things have been okay here on Mars, although with the sudden appearance with the Junk Guild things around here are, what you can say, a bit tense. I won't go into details since nothing serious has happened, yet._

_ "Oh, and before I forget, the ZGMF-X14A Faith, I'm sure you've noticed that we developed it as a thank you gift for giving us the data on the Justice, Freedom, Regenerate, Testament, and Providence. I hope that this, uh, 'Gundam' was it, will be helpful to you. I heard about the current situation on Earth and I hope things get better._

_ "I guess that's it for now, let's hope that we'll have a chance in the future to talk again. Maybe I'll even make a visit to Earth in the near future." Yumina winked and concluded, "Anyway, I'm really glad to hear from you again sis, and I hope our parents are alright. Love you sis, and hope to hear from you soon." Yumina looked like she was about to sign off when she added, "Oh yeah, sorry that you got the short end of the stick sis." The screen went blank after that._

_ A moment of silence passed when suddenly Mayumi started bawling. The others wondered if those were tears of joy at seeing her twin sister again or the fact that Yumina looked like an adult, while Mayumi had the appearance of a preteen. Nonetheless, Via and Lenore escorted Mayumi out of the hangar as Nanami said, "We'll take care of her, you'd better get to work going over the Faith Natalie."_

* * *

Present time

Afterwards Nanami told her over coffee that Mayumi was crying over the fact that Yumina looked normal for the most part. She was glad to hear from her again and was going to tell her brother and parents the good news later. At least Mayumi and the others got a look at how Mayumi would've looked if her looks matured properly.

That was when Ash and Morina entered the lab, making Natalie look up from her work. She said, "Ah, Ash, Morina, you're here."

"You wanted to see us Professor Kino?" Ash asked her. She nodded and said, "I've added the NIRUS modules to your machines with the help of the mechanics. I want you two to make a run around Onogoro and make sure the Justice and Freedom are working properly."

"Yes, of course Professor." Morina said. Then she noticed the schematics for the Faith on Natalie's computers, and she went over to take a look. Morina went over to check them out and said, "Wow, this is one heck of a mobile suit, it takes design features from all five machines and brings them together." Ash went over to his sister's side and took a look. Morina turned slightly pink as Ash said, "No kidding. It would take an extremely skilled pilot to handle hardware like this, not to mention one heck of an OS to boot. Maybe we'll call in Kira for this one."

Ash and Morina pulled away from the monitors and Morina said, "We'd better get going and prepare for the worst. Orb's going to join the World Security Treaty Organization, and I feel that the President wasn't very happy about it."

"She's doing something alright. I'm not sure since only Via, Lenore, and Nanami know what she's up to. We'll just have to wait and see, but I have a hunch it has something to do with the Serene, it's crew, and you two." Natalie told them. She went over to the computers and closed all the files related to the Faith saying, "Shouldn't you two get going?"

The two looked at each other and Ash said, "Right, we'll see you later Professor Kino." When the two of the left Natalie took another look at the files regarding the Serene's battle outside Orb. She thought, 'I can't say for certain but I'm pretty sure this is Nathan's work. I'd better send the report a soon as possible.'

* * *

_Mobile suit hangar_

Ash was busy reading an article about the SEED factor he came up with, with the help of Morina, Via, and Reverend Malchio. He was busy reading it, since the technicians had made a mistake with the maintenance with the Justice and Freedom. Morina decided to tell them off while Ash was busy reading.

The article came in two pages. The first one was about the definition of the SEED factor along with some of the theories about it, like that either natural or coordinator can possess the SEED, but first generation coordinators and their descendents had a higher chance to possess it than naturals. The other page had a list of those Celestial had identified having the SEED factor. Kira, Cagalli, Athrun, Lacus, Mayu, Elena, Shinn, Morina, and Ash's names were currently on that list. There were two more names that were written on it, Flay and Mayumi's. Flay's SEED factor came out due to her piloting as a mobile suit pilot over the years, which was a somewhat similar case to Ash's, where both his and Morina's SEEDs came out on the battlefield. In Elena's case, the first time she brought out the SEED was during one of the attempted raids on the Serene in 72, where Mayu and Elena were the only ones out there fighting. For Mayumi, it seems that the SEED factor runs through their family that can be traced back to the time of the Reconstruction War.

Ash looked up from the article and stared at the Faith which was on the opposite side of the hangar. He again wondered who in Celestial would be able to pilot something like that, since there were only a small group of pilots that were better than average. The Faith was one extraordinary machine for sure, but no regular pilot would be able to bring out the full potential of the machine, especially since it's been equipped with the DRAGOON system.

His thoughts started to turn to other matters. Ash and Morina heard that Via and Lenore were going to visit Kira and the others since it was their day off. Nanami stayed with Mayumi, and were sure the two were busy scheming something. Then his mind turned to Mayu and the others and he thought, 'Hope those guys are alright.'

The Serene was scheduled to arrive in eastern Eurasia by tomorrow and they'll be hearing from them within a few days. He hoped that all of them were going to be alright, even though they have experience things can changed during a war, that much he was certain. For some reason, his thoughts turned to Mayu in particular. Ash's thoughts drifted from worrying about her safety to how beautiful she's become. Ash found her cute back when they first met and now seeing her, she's become beautiful. That's when he shook his head and thought, 'No, I can't, I'm not ready for something like that, not after what happened.'

That was when one of the technicians shouted, "Hey Agent Ash! You need to check and see if the readjustments are working with the Freedom!"

"Alright, I'm coming!" Ash shouted back. He put the article on a nearby table and ran over to the Freedom. A moment later Morina walked towards the table, taking a break from working with the Justice. She sighed when she noticed the article Ash put on the table. Morina thought, 'The SEED factor huh? I remember mine awakened while I was still in ZAFT.'

Morina looked as she watched Ash climb into the Freedom's cockpit. She smirked as she remembered what the original technicians said about the Justice and Freedom, that they couldn't be piloted by most coordinators. Even though it took them six months, they managed to master the controls of their respective machines. Many people were surprised to find Ash being able to pilot the Freedom, thinking that he must've lied about being a natural or something like that.

That's when her thoughts turned to everyone on the Serene. Morina, like Ash, hoped for their safety, since wartimes can bring about some nasty surprises, like that unexpected attack when the Serene left Orb. Out of everyone onboard, the person she found the most interesting was Mayu. Morina had a hard time seeing that only two years ago, she used to be an ordinary citizen before the war changed her life. Now she was an ace pilot in her opinion, leading her own mobile suit team.

Morina saw that Mayu had started to develop some feelings for Ash recently. Honestly she didn't know what to think, when she just came into Morina's room back in June and told her how she felt. Morina didn't think about it since Ash looked like he wasn't looking for another relationship yet. She remembered what happened to his last relationship and Morina grew angry just thinking about it.

When Morina looked at the SEED article again she found herself wanting to talk to Via about it, but remembered that she and Lenore were visiting Kira and the others, so that would have to wait. She sighed and leaned back against the wall, thinking about random things. When one of the technicians called her over for a final check, she shouted, "Okay!"

When both siblings got out of their cockpits Natalie popped into the hangar and said, "Sorry guys, it looks like you'll have to do the test flight between five and six in the morning, so you two better get your sleep!"

"Say what?!" Both Ash and Morina shouted, but Natalie had already left. The two grumbled as they saw that it was already ten and decided to get some sleep. Little did they know, they were going to be in for a surprise when the two would make their flight runs later in the morning.

* * *

_October 17, C.E. 73 - Onogoro Island, residence_

It was around five thirty in the morning when Andrew and Murrue woke up to Haro warning them about intruders. Via and Lenore also got up to the sounds, and they got dressed, knowing that something was wrong. Lacus' pink Haro wouldn't start making noise in the middle of the night for no reason. When they were dressed Andrew came into their rooms and saw that the two were up and dressed. Lenore saw the gun in Andrew's hand and asked, "What's happening Andrew?"

"We got intruders on the premises." Andrew told them. Via and Lenore looked at each other then they went to their bags. To Andrew's surprise, they pulled out their own guns from the bags, along with a few clips. Andrew said, "I didn't know you ladies can shoot."

"You'd be surprised what Mayumi put us through when we first joined Celestial." Via told him. Andrew nodded and said, "C'mon, we need to wake up Lacus and the children."

The women nodded and followed Andrew out of the room. They met up with Murrue and Andrew said, "I wonder who are guests are." Then he told Murrue, "Take Lacus and the kids to the shelter. You two go with her and protect them while I'll see what's going on."

"Right." Murrue said as she ran off with Via following her. Andrew went the other way and was surprised to find Lenore following him. She said, "I'll back you up. You might need some help 'greeting' the visitors." Andrew chucked and said, "Glad to welcome the help Ms. Lenore."

That was when Kira came out of his room asking, "What's going on?"

Andrew told him, "Go get you clothes on kid, we've got unwanted visitors. Go find Captain Ramius and meet up with her. Look after Lacus and the kids." Kira nodded saying, "Right." and ran back into his room.

Meanwhile Murrue and Via were busy waking up everyone else. When Via woke up Caridad she was shocked to see Via holding a gun in her hands. She said to her, "I'll explain later, right now we need to get to the shelter."

The attackers started to shoot as Via and Murrue kept them at bay. Meanwhile Andrew and Lenore were busy keeping some of the intruders busy. They were firing shots and Lenore said, "Who are these guys?"

"I don't know, but I can tell these guys are coordinators." Andrew told her as he returned fire. Lenore reloaded her clip and whispered, "ZAFT…?" They saw that things were getting serious so the two of them got out of there quickly. That's when Andrew was attacked and while he held back the intruder Lenore shot the intruder. As the man slid down dead Andrew took the knife out of his artificial arm and said, "Thank you very much."

"It's no problem." Lenore said with a small smile. As they were about to leave they overheard a communication from the dead man's headset, "…Target has proceeded to Area E with the children."

"Hmm?" Andrew said. He and Lenore stopped to listen as it went on, "She's unarmed and has only two female guards with her. Hurry up and take her out." As the line went out Lenore whispered, "…Could they be talking about Lacus?"

"Maybe, if so we'd better hurry." Andrew said. The two of them ran off to meet up with the others. Meanwhile everyone was at the entrance to the shelter as Via and Murrue fired back at the intruders. Andrew and Lenore showed up just as the door opened, and the kids, Reverend Malchio, and Caridad went in first.

A sniper tried to get at Lacus but both Via and Lenore had a danger sense, and instinctively fired upon the sniper, killing him. Lacus was shocked as Kira went over and escorted her inside. The others followed and Andrew closed the doors soon after.

Inside Via was sporting a grazed arm wound from a bullet, which was unnoticeable at first. Caridad and Lenore were helping her treat it, as the others talked about the situation. As time passed there was a sudden explosion, which Andrew pointed out sounded like mobile suits. They headed deeper into the shelter to protect themselves as they wondered how they were going to get out of this mess.

* * *

_Orb Airspace – around six in the morning_

"Ha, you know, I feel like we deserve a vacation. It feels like it's been so long since I've had one." Morina said in the cockpit of the Justice.

"You just had one back in July for the whole month Morina." Ash snapped back. The two were busy test flying their mobile suits early in the morning, and let's just say they weren't usually like this. Anyway they've flown around Orb under Mirage Colloid, since the tenseness between Celestial and the Orb government, mainly the Seirans, hadn't subsided much.

As they were flying their radars had picked up mobile suit power signatures coming from a certain place on Onogoro Island. Morina said, "Hey, isn't these signatures coming from that place Kira and Lacus are staying?"

"Yeah, let's go down and check it out." Ash said. Both of them deactivated Mirage Colloid and went down to check it out. At the same time Kira just blew out of the secret hangar in his Freedom and appeared over the ASHs. The special ops team was shocked at the appearance and things didn't get better for them as Ash and Morina in their mobile suits appeared beside Kira's.

Kira was surprised to see the two as they opened a line with Kira. Ash asked, "Kira?! What the heck's happening here?!" They just saw the house up in flames and didn't like what they saw. Kira replied, "I'm not sure, but these guys came here and are trying to kill Lacus."

"What?!" Morina said. She thought, 'Who in their right mind would want to do that?!'

Ash looked serious as both he and Morina subconsciously went into SEED mode. Kira did the same as Ash said, "Let's take them alive, for interrogation purposes of course."

Kira and Morina nodded as they swooped down and started taking down ASHs. The special ops members were quite shocked that half of them were taken down in less than thirty seconds by the three of them. That's when the leader snapped them out of it shouting, "Take them down now!"

"Yes sir!" The others shouted as the other ASHs started to fire upon the three machines. Ash and Kira both did a Full Burst, disabling three ASHs each. Morina was slicing limbs and missile pods off of three other ASHs that were foolish enough to come at her with their beam claws.

Eventually only the leader was left, looking devastated by the sudden turn of events. He turned to Kira in his Freedom and activating his beam claw, he went for a reckless charge. The Freedom flipped it on it's backside, and as it tried to get up Kira was blasting it's limbs and missile pods off one by one with it's beam rifle. Ash couldn't help but think, "Now that just looked pitiful."

All the spec ops members knew they were done for, so each of them activated their self-destruct systems on their mobile suits. The three watched as each one blew up in flames. This made Morina think, 'This looks like a special operations unit. No one goes home until the job's done, period.'

The sun was starting to come up as Ash said, "You alright Glitters?"

Kira replied, "I'm fine, and I thought I told you to stop calling me that!"

"Haha, yeah, I know. Just checking if you're still there." Ash smirked. Morina cut into their conversation asking, "Is everyone alright Kira?"

"Yes, they should be fine." Kira used the Freedom to point to an area, where they saw everyone coming out of what looked like a huge shrub. The two sighed with relief as Morina said, "Whew, thank goodness. This was something we weren't expecting to find on our morning flight, that's for sure."

"C'mon, let's go check on the others, then let's see what we can find in the wreckages." Ash said. Then the three went off and landed their mobile suits into the hidden hangar.

* * *

_Onogoro Island – ruined residence_

It was around ten in the morning when a limo was busy driving up to the ruined residence. Inside were three people: Mayumi, Nanami, and Cagalli's maid Myrna. The three of them looked worried, they heard about the sudden attack and rushed over the first chance they got. Myrna however, had something else to do there, and it involved Kira.

When the car stopped in front of a big 'pothole' near the house, the three got out and were shocked to see the place looking like a battlefield. They even saw the wreckages of the ASHs on the ground.

Meanwhile back in the secret hangar Ash and Morina joined Kira, Lacus, Andrew, and Murrue discussing what happened. From what Andrew said the mobile suits were ASH types, which Ash happened to find funny. Morina shook her head as she said, "You know, I don't really know if this is related but…"

"But what?" Kira asked. Ash said, "Oh, it's about 'that', isn't it?" Morina nodded which made the four curious as Andrew said, "What is 'that' Ms. Sakuros?"

Morina was about to reply when they heard a voice say, "Oh my!" They turned to see Myrna come in followed by the orphans, with Mayumi coming in after them. Nanami was back outside with Via, Lenore, Caridad, and Reverend Malchio talking about last night's events. Myrna looked at Mayumi who nodded for her to go first and said, "Master Kira, Lady Cagalli asked me to give this to you." She took out a letter from her pocket and gave it to Kira, "My Lady would have come here herself but under the current circumstances…"

Kira opened the letter and started to read it, with Lacus looking at it too. When he was finished he handed the letter to Ash and Morina as they read it too, along with Mayumi. Morina said, "I can't believe Cagalli wrote this. It, it sounds so weak! I can't imagine Cagalli writing this."

Myrna agreed with her and they could tell how upset she was over how Cagalli was being treated. Meanwhile Mayumi talked to Ash and Morina, "This keeps getting worse every time. Sheesh, okay you two here are your orders. You are to protect both Lacus and Cagalli for the duration of the war, alright?"

Kira and the others were surprised by this as Ash and Morina saluted and said, "Yes Ms. President." Mayumi smiled and asked, "So, when are you going to rescue Cagalli?"

"At her wedding ceremony." Kira replied. Lacus looked at him and asked, "Kira?"

"You can see her crying for help through her letter huh?" Ash asked. Kira nodded as Murrue said, "Well, I guess it's time to bring 'her' out once again, but what are we going to do with the children?"

"Don't worry about them; I'll take them under my care. I've already talked to the Reverend about this so there's no problem." Mayumi told her. Then she added, "Since you're bringing 'her' out again I'll have Natalie and the Faith go with you. She needs the two of you to test things out with it."

"Faith?" Lacus asked. Morina nodded and said, "We'll show you later. Right now let's get things ready." Mayumi nodded and she went back outside to tell everyone else the details, followed by Myrna. Ash held out his hand to both Murrue and Andrew and said, "Well then, it looks like we'll be working with the two of you. Hope we can get along."

"Yes, likewise." Murrue said as she shook his hand, with Andrew shaking his hand after. Morina did the same and as she shook Andrew's hand he said, "It's a pleasure working with the Angel of Endymion." Morina shot back, "Same here Desert Tiger."

* * *

_October 17, C.E. 73 – Archangel's harbor_

Eventually most of the Archangel's crew was brought together and was ready to leave. The Faith was brought to the Archangel in it's sealed container and this made some of the mechanics, especially Murdoch, curious as to what's inside it. Natalie introduced herself and went off to settle in her quarters.

Outside Caridad was busy saying goodbye to Kira. Via was beside her along with Lenore, Reverend Malchio and the children. At the same time Nanami was there, seeing Ash and Morina off too. Ash said, "C'mon Aunt Nana, we're going to be fine. I'm sure nothing's going to happen."

"That's what they all say." Nanami said. She hugged both of them saying, "Be safe you two, or else I won't be able to face your parents."

"It's not like you talk to them anyway." Morina muttered. Then she said, "Don't worry Aunt Nana, I'll make sure he stays out of trouble."

"This coming from the reckless one?" Ash asked, earning him a bonk on the head by Morina. Nanami laughed and said, "Ha, same as always you two. Just come back safe alright?"

"We will." The two of them said in unison. Then they followed Kira to the Archangel. When they watched the Archangel start to leave the harbor Via noticed the look on Caridad's face and said, "Don't worry Cari, if Kira can survive Jachin then he'll be just fine. Ash and Morina will have his back too, you know."

"Thanks sis." Caridad said as they held hands in comfort. They watched until the Archangel vanished from their sights.

* * *

_Archangel – hangar_

As the Archangel was leaving dock Ash, Kira, and Morina were getting ready to pilot their machines. Inside their cockpits Ash went over the plan, "So, the plan's quite simple: Kira heads in and swoops Cagalli from the wedding while we provide support. So Kira, how does it feel to be the man that steals the bride?"

Morina giggled as Kira said smugly, "Actually it feels pretty good, especially since we're doing this for a good cause." A laugh came out of Morina as she said, "I wonder how Cagalli would feel if she heard you say that."

When they felt the Archangel break surface Ash said in a joking tone, "Alright people, it's time to start Operation Bride Snatcher. This plan should work unless Kira somehow takes Seiran with him. In that case we'll drop him once we're over the ocean. So Captain Ramius, if you would please."

They heard a round of laughter over their radios as Murrue said, "Alright then, prepare mobile suits for launch." Then Lacus' voice came on and said, "Preparing both Freedoms for launch." The two Freedoms were loaded on the catapult and were ready as Lacus said, "Okay, Kira, Ash, you two are ready for launch."

"Roger that Pink Princess, Ash Sakuros, Freedom launching."

"Kira Yamato, Freedom let's do it!"

Both machines flew out with the Justice coming next. Lacus said, "Morina, you are clear for launch."

"Morina Sakuros, Justice heading out!"

The Justice flew out and met up with the two Freedoms. Ash and Morina flanked Kira as the three of them blasted to Orb.

* * *

_Orb – Cagalli's wedding ceremony_

Cagalli and Yuna were in the middle of exchanging vows when suddenly they heard a voice shout, "The guys from HQ can't catch up with them!"

Both of them turned around as the man said, "Hurry get everyone to safety. Protect Lady Cagalli." Yuna asked, "What's going on?"

Suddenly the Astrays started to fire upwards but all of their beam rifles were shot out of their hands as the two Freedoms and the Justice appeared from the sky. One of the Freedoms swooped in and hovered where Cagalli was standing.

In their cockpits Ash and Morina were on the look out for any reinforcements but Ash had an eye on what was happening below. He watched as Kira took Cagalli in the Freedom's hands. When he saw Yuna run off he thought, 'What a spineless moron.' He shook his head as he heard Kira smirk and turned to see Cagalli looking quite angry and struggling half-heartedly. Morina laughed as she said, "Well, time to go."

The three machines took off and were flying back to where the Archangel was located. As they were flying Kira let Cagalli into his Freedom's cockpit with Kira saying, "Wow, nice dress."

"Shut it!" Cagalli said. That's when Ash and Morina's faced appeared on the monitor and Morina commented, "Beautiful dress, wrong wedding." Ash smirked and said, "Okay, so Operation Bride Snatcher was a success. Now let's just get her back in one piece."

"Ash!" Morina shouted. That was when their warning signed came to life as six Murasames approached them. One of the pilots gave them a warning shouting, "Attention mobile suits, land immediately or you will be shot down!"

"No way." Ash's Freedom took the beam rifle from Kira's Freedom saying, "Mind if I borrow this?" He didn't wait for Kira's reply as Ash used the beam rifles to shoot through four of the Murasames' wings. Morina took on the other two as she whipped out the Justice's beam sabers and tore through the other two Murasames' wings.

The two got back into position as Ash gave back Kira's beam rifle and said, "Well, that takes care of that. That was when he got a strange signal on his radar. Morina and Kira got it too and Ash said, "You two go on ahead, let me take care of this."

"Sure." Kira said as he cut his communication link. Morina said, "Come back in one piece okay?" before she cut hers. Ash sighed and mumbled, "You worry too much lil' sis."

Ash maneuvered his Freedom and went after the strange signal. It didn't take long until he came across a strange looking mobile suit that looked like an Astray. He checked his library and was surprised to see it was the Delta Astray, a mobile suit created on Mars. They heard about it from the Junk Guild along with a few other mobile weapons from Mars.

Ash was about to try and make contact with it when, to his surprised, a mobile suit appeared out of Mirage Colloid. He recognized it as Mina Sahaku's Astray Gold Frame AMATU and wondered what the heck she was doing here. Ash tried to communicate with her and thankfully, he got a response. Mina's face appeared on Ash's screen and he asked, "Lady Mina, what a surprise to see you here."

"Agent Sakuros? I thought you were supposed to be guarding Cagalli?" Mina asked him. Ash told her, "This mobile suit was coming after us and so I came back to see what it wants." As if on cue the two got a communication and a man's voice came though on voice-only saying, "Pilot of the winged mobile suit, return Cagalli Yula Attha at once, or else face the consequences!"

"Sorry, wrong guy. The other Freedom has Cagalli, not me." Ash said in amusement. The man's voice came back and said, "You are one of her kidnappers so if I have to go through you to get her I'll gladly will!"

The Delta Astray moved forward but it's path was blocked by the Gold Frame AMATU and the man said, "Lady Sahaku, please get out of the way."

"I can't do that Agnes Brahe." Mina replied, "This is in Orb's best interest. Isn't that right Ash?"

"That's right Mr. Agnes. But I don't see how this fit's in with you, since you are from Mars correct?" Ash said. Agnes replied, "How do you know?! Never mind, my first priority is to get to Cagalli Yula Attha."

"Too late for that, by now the Archangel should be long gone by now. Submerged into the ocean, I think." Ash told him. This got Agnes infuriated as he said, "Well, if I can't get her then I guess you'll be the next best thing!" The Delta Astray took out it's beam rifle and fired upon the Freedom. It dodged as Ash said, "Ha, what to do?"

The Delta Astray fired another shot at the Freedom but the Gold Frame blocked it with it's Trikeros shield and Mina said, "You'd better get out of here Agent Sakuros. If the Orb military catches you here things will get ugly." The Gold Frame blasted forward and tried to stall the Delta Astray. The Delta Astray exchanged it's beam rifle for it's katana and tried it's hardest to get past Mina without harming her.

As much as Ash hated to admit Mina was right, the longer he stayed the chance that the Orb military would catch him rose. So he closed his eyes and focused, going into SEED mode and turned to face the two combatants. The Freedom took out both it's beam sabers and Ash waited for an opening. When the two parted Ash took this chance to blast towards the Delta Astray, beam sabers raised.

Agnes got the warning and managed to dodge just in time, but the result was a sear to the Delta Astray's right arm. Agnes turned for a counter attack but the Freedom was too fast, as Ash made it slice off the lower part of it's arms, sending the arms and the katana falling into the ocean. Ash radioed to Mina and said, "Well, I'll take my leave now Lady Mina. I hope that you will be able to take care of this?"

"Of course, and please protect Cagalli." Mina told him.

"I will milady." Ash said before he cut the connection. The radar was going off as he saw two dozen Murasames heading for this location. Ash decided to make himself scarce and activated the Mirage Colloid. The two women were surprised to see that the Freedom vanished in midair, even though the two had heard about something like it from the Minerva incident. Mina thought, 'This has Mayumi's fingers all over it.'

The Orb forces arrived on scene only to find the Delta Astray and the Gold Frame flying around. The Delta Astray made it's exit as one of the Murasame pilots radioed Mina and asked, "Lady Sahaku, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. They got away, so everyone should return to their stations." Mina told them.

"Yes ma'am!" The pilot shouted. A moment later the other Murasames flew off leaving Mina alone. She thought to herself, 'This is the best for Orb, since the Seirans seem to be taking over for the moment. Cagalli will be safe with them, and maybe she'll learn a thing or two.' With that the Gold Frame flew off back to Orb.

* * *

_Outside Orb's border_

Ash checked to see that he wasn't followed as he deactivated Mirage Colloid. He knew that there was no way he could've been followed under Mirage Colloid but it didn't hurt to be cautious. As he flew around Ash realized that he didn't have a clue where the Archangel would be. Staying behind wasn't part of the plan and he certainly knew it. He thought, 'Uh oh. Where the heck am I going to go? If I can't find them then I'll have to head for the nearest Celestial facility under Mirage Colloid.'

The Freedom circled the area a few times, trying to see any sign of the Archangel. Ash sighed as he went around for a third time and thought, 'Oh well, might as well head for the nearest Celestial base.

Ash was about to initiate autopilot when he got a communication from the Archangel. Ash opened the link as Lacus' face appeared on screen. She said, "Whew, thank goodness you made it Ash. Was there any trouble?"

"Eh, slightly but that was quickly taken care of." Ash replied, "So how's the blond princess?"

"She's doing fine, she's just getting out of her wedding dress in her quarters." Lacus told him. That was when the Archangel surfaced and the portside catapult opened up. Murrue's face appeared next to Lacus' and said, "You had us worried there for a second Agent Sakuros. You have permission to land on the Archangel."

"Thank you very much, and let me just say that Operation Bride Snatcher was quite the success. I even got to see the look of terror on Seiran's face too." Ash said. This earned a few laughs from the bridge crew as the Freedom made it's way to the Archangel.

* * *

_Orb – Celestial HQ, Mayumi's office_

Mayumi was looking over the video of the whole incident Celestial's satellite managed to catch. She laughed to herself and said, "Well now, let's hope that Cagalli will get back to her old self, now that she's back among friends. It's sad, since she was up against a ministry that had backed itself behind the Seirans, so she hadn't had much of a chance in politics."

That was when Nanami's voice came on saying, "Um, President? I've got a call saying that the Sei-, um I mean, the Orb officials would like a word with you. Oh, and Lady Mina wants you to come over to her estate tomorrow. She says that she has the visitors from Mars with her."

"Tell them that I'm available in two days, since I'll be seeing what Mina wants." Mayumi said flatly. Nanami's voice replied, "Of course Ms. President." As the line went dead she thought, 'Well, soon it's time to face the music, and let's just hope Mina will be there to back me up somehow.'

Mayumi got up and said, "Well, I guess I'll finish up everything here before I go see Mina."

* * *

_Archangel – hangar_

Ash was getting out of the Freedom and used it's hoist cable to get down. He found Kira and Morina waiting for him in their uniforms as Morina said, "Jeez brother, you sure how to make one worry."

"You really should have more faith in me sis. If I was that poor of a pilot then I wouldn't be flying the Freedom." Ash told her waving his index finger at her. Morina just shook her head and said, "Hurry up and go get changed. Cagalli was pretty surprised when we brought her in. That quickly changed to her being quite angry, right Kira?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen her that angry in years." Kira admitted. The three laughed as Ash said, "Well, I'd better get into my uniform." He was about to leave when he paused and asked, "My uniform is in the change room right?"

"Yeah, it's in locker number four." Morina told him. Ash thanked her as he made his way to the change room. Morina shouted, "We'll be heading for the bridge! Cagalli's bound to be there when she gets out of her funk!"

"Alright!" Ash shouted back as he entered the change room. Morina and Kira left the hangar and were walking towards the bridge. That's when Kira made a turn saying, "I'd better go check on Cagalli. You know how she is."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Morina said as Kira left down another hallway. This left Morina alone as she continued on her way to the bridge. As she was walking Morina took out a locket that she always wore under her clothes. She popped it open and it had a picture of her and two other people, a girl with long brown hair and a boy with orange blond hair, in ZAFT red uniforms. Even though she wasn't fond of ZAFT, Morina kept the picture, among other things, since the two people were her only friends in ZAFT back then. Morina thought, 'Shiho, Heine, I hope you two are doing well. I have a feeling this war's different than the last one.'

Morina closed the locket as she stuffed it back behind her uniform. That was when Ash caught up to her saying, "Hey sis-whoa, is something wrong?" Ash saw a tear fall from Morina's eyes as she wiped it off and said, "I'm fine Ash, it's nothing to worry about."

"If you say so…" Ash said, dropping the subject.

The two of them walked together when they heard Cagalli's voice shout, "I am so mad at you guys, you know that!"

"That sure sounded like the Cagalli we know." Morina murmured. Ash agreed saying, "Yeah, we'd better hurry to the bridge. Or else we might miss her 'lecture'." The two nodded and they hurried off to the bridge.


	14. Thoughts

Chapter 14 – Thoughts

_October 21, C.E. 71 – Serene - lounge_

Mayu and the others were busy resting in the lounge room. Ever since they've arrived in Eastern Eurasia, things have been quite busy for them. They were near one of the areas where one of the falling fragments had hit, and were busy trying to assist the Celestial forces that were in the area, helping the victims. Everyone on the Serene was helping, and they saw firsthand what the damages were. Everyone was quite shocked at how devastated the area was due to the fall of Junius Seven.

Now as they were resting Marianne walked in holding a data disk saying, "Listen up everyone, I have a report from HQ, and the captain has ordered me to give it to you."

Everyone looked up from what they were doing as Flay asked, "Why, is it serious?"

All eyes were trained on Marianne which made her a bit nervous as she replied, "Well, it's not too serious, I think. It's more of what happened back in Orb for the past few days. In all honesty things have taken a turn for the worst back home."

"Hah, I guess we should take a look everyone." Mayu said. Everyone nodded and Marianne gave Mayu the data disk and left saying, "I'd better get back to the bridge, I'm still on duty!"

When Marianne left Mayu popped the disk into the nearby data slot that was connected to the television. The pilots gathered as the data was being loaded up and a moment later, Mayumi's face appeared on screen. She said, "Hello everyone, I hope the relief effort's going well."

Everyone looked at each other as Mayumi continued, "A lot of things happened lately. Firstly, the Orb Union had signed the World Organization Security Treaty and is now part of the Earth Alliance. Hopefully Orb can manage to stay away from the war for a bit but sooner or later, something's going to happen."

Mayu paused the message as Asagi said, "Orb joined the Alliance? This must be the work of the Seirans, only they would do something like this." Juri and Mayura nodded with Juri saying, "If only Lord Uzumi were still around, something like this would've never happened."

"Well, let's just see what Mayumi says first." Silenna told them, "Mayu, please?"

"Sure." Mayu replied as she pressed the play button. Mayumi went on to say, "This also leads to the next thing that happened. Cagalli was going to be wed to Yuna Roma Seiran on the same day they sign the treaty." At this everyone shouted, "What?!"

"I know this sounds shocking but don't worry, Cagalli was 'rescued' from her wedding by Kira, Ash, and Morina. She's on the Archangel right now so she's safe for now." Everyone sighed a breath of relief at that as Mayumi said, "I have assigned Ash and Morina to protect both Cagalli and Lacus for the time being so, you might not hear from them for a while."

There was only silence as Mayumi went on to the next subject, "You may be wondering why I added Lacus' name to that, so make sure this stays secret alright?" They all gulped as Mayumi said, "A few days ago there was an attempted assassination on Lacus' life. The assassins were dealt with and officially, we don't know who they were. But our suspicions say that it was ZAFT that did it. We have some proof, like the prototype ASH type mobile suits they used but were not sure. Nevertheless, keep your guards up people, this war's not so cut and dry like the last one."

Mayu accidentally paused the message again and that made everyone look at her. She looked and saw that her hand was on the remote and said, "Sorry about that everyone." They all sighed as Antino said, "Lacus Clyne was nearly assassinated?! That's like saying human babies are the demons of the earth! Why I outta-!"

Everyone sighed as they watched Antino fall into what they call, 'Angry ranting mode'. They learned over the years that Antino would get angry over something from time to time. Synar told everyone back then to wait it out, since he would run out of energy eventually. They waited, and a few minutes later Antino had fainted from the constant ranting. That's when Mayu pressed the play button and Mayumi said, "Also, we received this from our supporters in the PLANTs and, although I'm not totally sure yet, it seems to be related."

A video of the Lacus Clyne concert in the PLANTs was being played, with Meer singing a different version of In This Quiet Night. All of the pilots had their jaws drop open as the video was being played. As the video went on Silenna couldn't help but say, "Who the hell is that? There's no way that's Lacus singing up there!"

"I'm with you on that one." Mayu said, "The day the real Lacus Clyne starts singing and wearing clothes like that all of a sudden, is the day Blue Cosmos starts saying that everyone should have coordinator children."

They all nodded like that as Antino woke up and looked at the screen. When he saw the video he asked, "Who's the loosely dressed chick cosplaying as Lacus Clyne? She may look like her but Lacus isn't known for 'that'." Antino pointed to the screen where Meer was dancing to the audience.

"That's no dress, that's a clip on." Luri commented. Kazuki added, "I wonder, is it for easy access or what?"

They all looked at Kazuki since that sounded a bit wrong and he said, "What?"

"That just didn't sound right Kaz." Juri told him. Before he could say something Mayumi came back on and said, "…I know that looked weird but rest assured, the real Lacus is on the Archangel with Cagalli. Sooner or later this will come to light so, in the meantime, everyone please take care of yourselves." With that the message ended leaving the group with some questions that couldn't be answered.

* * *

_Archangel – hangar_

Ash and Morina were helping Natalie with her work on the Faith. Kira was with them helping out also with Lacus watching them. A number of other technicians, including Murdoch, were quite curious about the Faith, since it was a mobile suit along the lines of the Freedom and Justice. Ash and Morina were in the cockpit testing out the Faith in simulations, with Natalie and Kira working out the bugs in the OS.

After the seventh try, Asche and Morina got out of the cockpit, both of them looking quite tired. The two got down from the mobile suit as Natalie said, "Thanks for your hard work you guys. This just takes it one step closer to making the Faith usable. Honestly, those guys on Mars can build a good mobile suit, but they should at least be practical about it."

"Oh dear, Professor Kino's going on another rant again." Morina whispered. Ash whispered back, "Let her rant. If she keeps it bottled up we're going to regret it later."

Then the two saw Kira and Lacus talking to each other and Ash said, "You know, you'd think they'd be avoiding each other after what happened a few days ago." Morina told him, "They're not that immature Ash."

Ash gave a quiet laugh as he said, "You have to admit, their reactions were quite interesting when we told them about the other Lacus Clyne."

* * *

_Flashback, October 17, C.E. 73 – Archangel, bridge_

_ Ash, Morina, and the rest of the bridge crew watched Cagalli get angry at them for kidnapping her and Kira reprimanding her, causing her to break down in tears. That's when Morina said, "It looks like Cagalli's coming back to us."_

_ All Ash did was nod as he watched Kira comfort Cagalli. That's when Ash remembered something and said, "Oh yeah, now that everything's been taken care of, I think we can show everyone what President Mayumi wanted to show Lacus and the others, but Cagalli's wedding took higher priority that she forgot."_

_ Everyone looked up at them, even Cagalli who was starting to calm down. Kira said, "Yes, President Mayumi did say something about it being related to that assassination attempt-."_

_ "Wait, what? What assassination attempt?" Cagalli asked, obviously out of the loop. Murrue said, "Yes, you don't know about it Ms. Cagalli." Morina smirked and thought, 'Obviously…' _

_ When Cagalli was told about the assassination attempt on Lacus, Cagalli was in quite a shock asking, "Wait, do you know who they were?"_

_ "We're not sure, but from what we've seen, they were most likely from ZAFT." Andrew told her. Cagalli went on to ask, "But why on earth would they want to kill Lacus? It doesn't make any sense."_

_ "We were getting to that." Morina said. That's when she took out a disk from her pocket and handed it to Murrue saying, "Captain, if you would please?"_

_ "Sure." Murrue took the disk and uploaded it to the computers. As the video file was being loaded Ash and Morina couldn't help but think the same thing, 'Seeing their reactions is going to be quite enjoyable.'_

_ That's when the video started running and the screen showed a stage with ZAFT and PLANT civilians in the audience. Then, to their surprise, Meer came out on stage and started to address the audience. A moment later, the song started and Meer started singing what they recognized as a remixed version of In This Quiet Night, which to them just sounded odd. Kira turned to the twins and asked, "What is this?"_

_ "It's just as you see it." Ash told him, "From what we heard from our supporters in the PLANTs that video was taken about a day before the attempted assassination. Honestly when President Mayumi saw this video she became suspicious and thinks that Chairman Durandal had something to do with it."_

_ "You know, actually that's not a bad move in some respects." Andrew said. When all heads turned to him he explained, "Lacus had quite the influence in the PLANTs, being the daughter of the late Chairman Clyne." At that he bowed his head then continued, "Chairman Durandal probably wanted her to keep the people calm, especially after they had nukes shot at them."_

_ "True, but lying to the people isn't right." Lacus said to them, "I don't mind if he uses my name to keep the people calm during this wartime but the Chairman keeps this up, it's going to have serious repercussions if I decided to go out into the open."_

_ "And after what happened, I'm sure that's not going to be anytime soon." Kira said, putting his hand over Lacus' shoulder. Ash shrugged at that when he noticed Morina was in deep thought. He asked, "Something on your mind sis?"_

_ "Huh?" Morina said, snapping out of her thoughts, "No, it's just that, creating that other Lacus must've took some time. I mean, you can't transform a person overnight right? The process must've taken at least a month or two, even if the girl had the same face or voice. Although you can see where some of the similarities end." She pointed to the screen where they saw Meer do a little dance onstage._

_ Ash laughed a bit and said, "Yup, that's true. No offense Lacus, but if I suddenly saw you starting to do stuff like that, I'd be thinking that you must've taken drugs or something." At that Lacus actually giggled and said, "You're right Ash; I can't honestly see myself performing something like that right now." _

_ "Girl, you are seeing yourself doing something like that." Morina told her, as the concert was about to close and the video paused itself at Meer receiving flowers from the crowd. Ash pointed out, "If Lacus started going around wearing something like that, Kira would probably start bashing guys that looked at her, right Kira?"_

_ Kira gave him a look while Lacus continued to giggle and Cagalli, Murrue, Andrew, and the rest of the bridge crew looked amused too. Andrew had a smile on his face as changed the subject saying, "As much as how fun this sounds, we need to figure out what to do from now on, being 'wanted criminals' and all." They all nodded at that as they started to discuss future plans._

* * *

Present time

"That was quite the discussion." Morina said as she and Ash looked back at the memory, "That reminds me, where was Professor Kino at the time? She was supposed to be there too."

"From what I've heard," Ash started, "She was talking with the head technician Murdock about something, probably about the Faith. I'm not sure."

"I bet she was say that the Faith was off limits until further notice or something." Morina whispered. Ash looked at her and said, "For all I know, you could be right." That's when they saw Natalie approach Kira and Lacus, which they decided to join them.

When they joined them Natalie said, "Thank you very much for the help Kira. Your skills with computer programming is very much like my brothers."

"Your brother?" Kira asked. Lacus looked slightly curious too while Ash and Morina knew who Natalie was talking about. Natalie replied, "Yes, my older brother Nathan, he's a natural that's a genius in programming, while I'm a genius at the mechanics. When we combine our talents we tend to come up with amazing projects. I…don't know where he is at the moment so I don't know what he's been up to for the past few years."

Ash and Morina looked at each other, understanding the pause in Natalie's speech. They knew that he was still with the Atlantic Federation and to Celestial, information like that was considered pretty sensitive, so only the person related can talk about things like that. Natalie packed away the equipment and picked up all the data disks and said, "Well, I'll see you guys later."

"Bye Professor Kino." The four of them said simultaneously. When Natalie left the four, they looked at each other as Ash asked, "So, what do we do now?" They thought about it until Morina said out of the blue. "Why don't we have a go with Generation Seed: Machina Rising?"

"You mean that game that you installed into our mobile suits yesterday?" Kira asked. Lacus looked at the two siblings and added curiously, "Game?" Ash nodded at the both of them and said, "Yeah, there's not much else to do around here as the Archangel sits at the bottom of the ocean."

That's when they caught the aroma of coffee and Andrew walked into the hangar, followed by Cagalli for some reason. Apparently they heard the conversation and Andrew finished the coffee he had in his hand as he asked, "I heard you guys talking about a game, which you told me about yesterday. Mind filling in the rest, since you were only brief that time?"

"It's a simulation that the people in Celestial came up with." Cagalli told him. When the three turned to her she said, "Back at the Minerva, I took a try at it after everything had settled down and I have to say, it's more of a hardcore simulation than what those two call a 'game'."

"Betcha she couldn't handle it very well the first time." Ash whispered to his sister. Morina just nodded and Ash said, "Anyway, we happened to install the game into the other mobile suits, with everyone's permission of course, 'cause this is going to turn into one very long trip."

That was when an idea came to Morina and she suggested, "Why doesn't Lacus go with Kira and watch from the cockpit?"

Everyone there looked at her and Lacus said, "I really don't mind, if it's okay with you Kira." Kira looked a bit sheepish for some reason and said, "Well, since it is just a game, I guess it's alright."

"Good, then we can all get ready." Ash happily said. Everyone that was involved got into their respective machines and booted up the O.S. When the screens came on there were two options, battle mode and game mode. They all chose the second option and the game loaded.

As Morina explained to the others how to properly work the game Ash couldn't help but think how far work on the technology the game used progressed. A block was installed into the corner of the cockpit that wasn't that big, and a specially tuned wireless adapter was plugged into it too. There were other things involved but found that they were too complicated to put into words. That's when Morina's voice came on in his cockpit saying, "We're ready when you are brother."

"Roger that." Ash said. Since he had the master controls he decided the missions that they could play. He decided to choose a mission which involved capturing a mobile suit factory on the moon being held by the Jolnir. As the mission loaded a girl came on during their briefing screen, who reminded them of Lacus, except her eyes were green and her pink hair was styled differently. They saw a name in the corner which read, 'Operator: Feldt Grace'.

Then, when the girl started briefing them on the mission, Kira, Andrew, and Cagalli were surprised to hear Lacus' voice speaking. Morina radioed in on them saying, "Quite a surprise there isn't it?"

Kira looked over at Lacus, who looked a bit embarrassed and asked, "Is that you Lacus?" Since the radio was on open band everyone heard her as she replied with a hint of embarrassment, "Yes, I did."

Andrew asked, "When was this?" Everyone except Ash and Morina were curious about it as Lacus explained, "This was about six months ago. Mayumi gave me a call asking if I wanted to do some voice acting. She assured me that it wasn't going to be public and if it was ever leaked out, then there would be a fake name given. Anyway, I agreed and surprisingly, I found it to be quite fun. Not to mention the number of lines I acted."

Ash smirked and said, "She had fun and was paid for it. It's not that surprising you guys." The briefing was already over and Ash said, "Okay guys, time to start this party." He typed in a command and the battlefield loaded up. Everyone had chosen their respective machines, with Kira, Ash, and Morina in their personal mobile suits, Andrew in a Murasame, and Cagalli in a Strike Noir. There were only three squads of three with them; a Freedom squad, a Justice squad, and a Nero Blitz squad. There was also an Archangel-class battleship behind them called, 'Divinia'.

They saw a whole bunch of various GINN types guarding the factory, along with several Daggers that had a few modifications that they couldn't recognize, and three navy blue machines the game identified as Hucklebein Mk.I mobile suits. They saw the HM GINNs fly towards them and Ash shouted, "All units attack!"

At the command of his voice, all the squads started firing at the incoming GINNs, and Morina shouted, "C'mon, let's trash some machines!" Everyone reacted and they all started engaging the GINNs.

As Andrew's Murasame fired on a couple of HM GINNs that tried to sneak up on him he commented, "Wow, this is more realistic than a simulator."

"Believe me, these games are better back in Orb." Morina replied as she sliced two HM GINNs in half simultaneously, "The cockpit modules back home actually shake if you get hit."

"Now that's an interesting note." Andrew said. Ash interrupted them saying, "We've got incoming reinforcements people!" Sure enough, there were additional Dagger-types coming out of the factory and some of the other GINNs started to join up with them. Kira and the other Freedoms used their Full Burst Modes to provide covering fire at the incoming mobile suits, causing the enemy to scatter. The others took out their beam sabers and engaged the remaining machines in close combat.

A few minutes later, the battle was slowly turning to their favor, as the number of enemy machines started to decrease. The only loss they suffered on their side was a destroyed Nero Blitz, with a few other AI controlled machines retreating to the Divinia for minor repairs. Suddenly all of their sensors detected a high energy spike coming from the factory and everyone zoomed their cameras in at the factory, where they saw the three Hucklebeins holding large cannons with both hands, aimed at them. Ash spat and shouted, "Tch, everyone scatter!"

At that moment, the three Hucklebeins fired off purple balls of light from their cannons, and while two of the shots completely missed, one of them hit one of the Freedoms head on. They watched as what seemed to be compressing and expanding the mobile suit inside, until the Freedom inside suddenly exploded due to the destructive gravity field. Everyone was surprised by that and Ash said, "All in favor of making those three our top priority, say 'I'."

"I!" Everyone else replied. Inside the cockpit, Lacus was busy watching Kira fight, and found it interesting, if not odd, how the fighting looked from inside a mobile suit cockpit. Even though she had already tried it once back when she first visited Celestial with Kira and the others, she couldn't help but feel interested for some reason.

Meanwhile, Kira, Ash, and Morina took point and flew towards the three Hucklebeins, while Andrew and Cagalli tried to follow them, but the hordes of GINNs and Daggers blocked their path. Thankfully the other AI mechs were still with them, and supported them in destroying the mobile suits, along with the Divinia.

Now Kira, Ash, and Morina were locked in combat with the three Hucklebeins, who ditched their Black Hole Cannons and pulled out their Photon Rifles. The three noticed how maneuverable the three mechs were and that their rifles fired concentrated bursts of energy at them. Unfortunately, they had to pull back as reinforcements started coming out of the factory and started firing at them. Ash happened to shout, "Kira, do you think you can blow that hangar entrance?"

Kira, who happened to be closest to it, replied, "Yes, I'm on it!" His Freedom fired off three quick bursts from it's beam rifle at the entrance, causing it to explode and collapse afterwards. That cut off the machines coming out of the factory, leaving the three to deal with the GINNs and Daggers that had surrounded them.

Nearby, Andrew and Cagalli were fighting off the enemy mobile suits that were steadily decreasing in number. The entire Nero Blitz squad was destroyed and one of the Justices had retreated to the Divinia for repairs. Andrew commented, "Man, this game sure knows how to push one to their limits!"

"Can you really call this a game though?" Cagalli asked as she pierced an Aile Dagger through the chest with the Strike Noir's beam blade. Andrew was firing at a group of GINNs and managed to hit one, causing it to collide with another, causing the two to explode. He couldn't help but say, "I still got it."

Back around the factory, Ash and Morina were busy shooting down GINNs and Daggers while Kira was distracting the Hucklebeins by taking potshots at them. This prevented them from picking up their cannons which Kira noticed were somehow connected to the factory's power supply. He fired his rifle and railguns at the three cannons, destroying them, just as Ash and Morina finished with the last of the reinforcements.

Morina noticed the three cannons blowing up and commented, "Now that was smart, taking away those cannons." Kira said, "At least those things will be much less of a threat now."

"However, those mechs will fight to the bitter end, and I think we have some enemy backup heading our way." Ash said as he spotted six Gespensts and a Hucklebein teleport nearby the factory, heading their way.

Fortunately for them, Andrew and Cagalli arrived on the scene and Cagalli asked, "What happened here?" She saw that parts of the factory were damaged from the fighting with the Hucklebeins.

All of them dodged fire from the Gespensts as the three Hucklebein flew up at them and started attacking them with their beam sabers. Kira fought off two of them, while Morina took on the third, and the others started firing their arsenals at the Gespensts and Hucklebein Mk.I, causing the enemy to scatter.

That's when they got a message saying that the Divinia was withdrawing for a moment and the Freedom and Justice squads were being pulled out too. Cagalli obviously got pissed at that and said, "What the heck? Why are they leaving?!"

"Never mind that, just focus on the enemy!" Ash shouted, as he switched his Freedom into HiMAT mode and fired the plasma cannons point blank at a Gespenst, destroying it instantly.

Cagalli got a lucky shot in with her beam blades on the Hucklebein , despite it's gravity barrier, and pierced the mobile suit right through the chest. She had to leave the beam blade though, as a couple of Gespensts were firing their mega beam rifles at her, which forced Cagalli to pull back quickly as the mobile suit exploded. Andrew got them off of her by firing his beam rifle at the Gespensts, which forced them to back off. He asked, "You alright Cagalli?"

"Yeah, but enough of that, let's get them!" Cagalli replied. Since the radio was open between everyone, Ash heard that and thought, 'Looks like someone's getting into it.' He had to pause that thought as the Hucklebein he was fighting fired a shot from it's photon rifle at him, which hit one of his Freedom's wings. Ash responded by firing at the mech's rifle arm, blowing it off.

Eventually the five of them succeeded in their mission, but looked worse for the wear as their mobile suits, even Kira's looked like they were chewed and spat out. The debriefing screen showed up, with Kira, Ash, and Morina getting a B, due to doing more damage to the factory then necessary. Cagalli and Andrew got an A grade and Kira, Cagalli, and Andrew couldn't help but feel a bit exhausted as they sat back in their seats.

Lacus, who was watching everything from behind Kira's seat, couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. Seeing how a battle looked from a pilot's point of view instead of a place like a ship's bridge, was totally different. Sure she had a spin in one of the modules back at Celestial, but seeing the pressure of battle left an impression on her. That's when Ash's voice shook her out of her thoughts saying, "So, what do you think?"

"I must say, that was quite intense for just a game." Andrew replied. Kira nodded and said, "That didn't feel like a game Ash, more like an intense training simulation, despite the odd machines."

Morina said, "Well, it was designed to help improve the skills of our pilots, and completing the mission is highly encouraged too." Ash opened up his cockpit saying, "I guess that's it for now. You guys can get out now if you want."

Everyone except Morina complied with that and they shut down their mobile suits, getting out of them. As Ash watched Kira, Cagalli, Lacus, and Andrew leave the hangar Morina somehow popped up beside him asking, "So, is this what we're going to be doing most of the time around here?"

Ash looked at his little sister like she had grown a second head and replied, "Are you kidding? Doing this everyday would start to stress anyone out. If we're going to keep ourselves occupied for a while, then we'll need to get creative."

"Okay then." Morina said as Ash popped back into his cockpit to shut down the game, which was still running.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
_Carpentaria – Minerva, hanger_

"I still can't believe that the captain gave you permission to install this thing Luna." Yolant said. Lunamaria popped her head out of the cockpit saying, "Well, since she had it checked over, the captain found it alright."

It was another day at Carpentaria base and Lunamaria was inside her ZAKU getting the Generation Seed game installed into her mobile suit. After bringing it to Talia and it being examined by experts for any viruses or things like that, she authorized it's installation, noting that if it'll help improve her piloting skills, then there really isn't any harm in it.

She was busy overseeing the installation process, which sort of required a few modifications to her ZAKU's cockpit, when she felt a sudden shake. Lunamaria popped her head outside the cockpit asking, "What was that?"

Vino, who was passing by, replied, "There's a new mobile suit that just landed in the Minerva. Looks like a new model that's related to the Impulse."

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow at that and said, "Hmm, sounds interesting." She got down from her ZAKU and said, "Let's go see then."

With Yolant following behind them, they walked up to the group of technicians that had surrounded the front of the new mobile suit, despite keeping their distance. That's when Lunamaria noticed that Meyrin was standing there with them, with a bag in her hand. She went over and called out to her, "Hey Meyrin!"

"Oh sis!" Meyrin said, noticing Lunamaria approaching her, "What's up?"

"Do you know who's inside that new model?" Lunamaria asked her. Meyrin shook her head and replied, "No, I just got back myself, but the others were saying that the pilot might actually a FAITH member."

Lunamaria couldn't believe it and was about to say something as the cockpit opened and the pilot came out. At the same time Shinn showed up and asked, "What's going on here?"

The pilot removed his helmet, revealing himself as Athrun Zala. Shinn looked at him and said, "Oh, it's you…"

Athrun ignored that part and gave his helmet to one of the technicians and said, "Recognition code number 285002. Athrun Zala, FAITH special forces, permission to board." Then he saluted everyone making everyone else do the same thing, except Shinn who looked skeptical and asked, "Why'd they pick you?"

"Shinn! You need to learn some manners you know!" Lunamaria hissed. That's when everyone else saluted Athrun and he returned their salute. Shinn just sighed and put what he was holding on the floor as he fixed his uniform and saluted too.

Athrun nodded and asked, "Is the captain on the bridge?" Aves, who was standing in front of most of the technicians, replied, "Ah, yes I believe so…"

Meyrin was about to volunteer herself to escort Athrun when Lunamaria stepped up and said, "I'll escort you to her, sir."

Athrun looked slightly overwhelmed by Lunamaria's suddenness as he said, "Ah, thank you." He followed her when Yolant said, "Luna, what about-?" Lunamaria cut him off saying, "I'll take care of that later, it's practically done anyway, right?" With that she led Athrun out of the hangar, but not before Shinn called out to Athrun asking, "Are you back with ZAFT now?"

Athrun stopped and looked around replying, "It looks that way, doesn't it?" Shinn kept on going asking, "Change of heart?" Athrun didn't reply to that and he just followed Lunamaria out of the hangar.

Yolant just sighed and said, "Figures that she'd leave me to do all the work…" Shinn heard what he said and asked, "What are talking about?"

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Yolant said. Shinn just shook his head as he picked up what he was carrying, as Yolant replied, "Lunamaria got permission from the captain to install a game into her mobile suit."

Shinn, and Meyrin who got curious, were confused as Shinn said, "A…game?"

Yolant nodded and said, "Yeah, that game Lunamaria was talking about. You know, the one she said that she tried when those two Celestial Agents and that Yuna chick were here." Shinn couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance for a bit as Yolant continued, "It looks like Lunamaria received a copy of that game from that time when she visited Celestial. Apparently the captain approved of it after having the thing examined; you'll have to ask her for the details, I don't know much about it."

After Yolant left to check on Lunamaria's ZAKU Shinn was left wondering what was going on. Meyrin left the hangar for the bridge, looking a bit sour, while Shinn decided to go take a look at Lunamaria's ZAKU, a bit curious at the whole issue.

* * *

_Minerva – captain's quarters_

After sorting out the whole issue with Talia becoming a member of FAITH and their new orders from Chairman Durandal, Athrun was about to leave when he asked, "Um, ma'am? Do you know what's happening with Orb captain?"

Talia was curious as she said, "Orb?" Athrun nodded and explained, "I've been out of the loop for the most part, and I still don't know what happened there…"

"Right…" Talia said. She went on to explain that Orb was going through trouble with their missing representative, and that they were trying to cover it up. That's when she said, "But the unofficial word is, that the Freedom and the Archangel abducted the representative."

"What…?" Athrun said, shocked by that information. Talia went on to add, "Also, they say that Celestial was involved, saying that their Justice and Freedom aided in the kidnapping."

Again, Athrun was thrown off by that thinking, 'First Kira, now Ash and Morina? What's going on here?' Talia smirked and said, "I heard the Orb government tried to pin the kidnapping on Celestial, but didn't have any circumstantial evidence to back it up. I wonder, what's going on with that nation these days…?"

Athrun bowed and said, "Thank you for the information captain." Talia watched as Athrun walked out of the room, wondering what was going on in Athrun's head.

* * *

_Serene – deck_

Mayu was by herself on the deck of the Serene, staring up at the night sky, trying to relax after the hard work that they went through. She heard that they were going to move on in a couple of days, and that Celestial personnel in the area would be able to take care of everything. Seeing the happy and grateful faces of the people that she and the others helped made her feel glad that she joined Celestial.

As she leaned on the railing, her thoughts turned to Shinn and the choice that she made to join Celestial in the first place. Now that she knew that he was alive, she wondered how life would've been like if she refused Morina's offer back then. If she did, and was reunited with her brother earlier, she wondered what would happen next. For some reason she could still see Shinn joining up with ZAFT despite her being there by his side.

Mayu shook her head and thought, 'No, I'm sure I made the right choice in joining Celestial.' Then a voice in her head asked, 'Are you sure about that?'

'I'm quite sure. I mean, I've met Elena and the others, and we've become good friends. I've even been able to keep in touch with some of my old friends from school before the attack two years ago.' Mayu assured herself. The voice kept on poking at her saying, 'Oh really now? But aren't you longing for a normal life again? To be in school, laughing with your friends, and hanging out with them, without a care in the world?'

A sigh came from Mayu as she thought, 'No, I don't want to be ignorant anymore. It made me scared when the Earth Forces attacked Orb. I don't want to feel like that again, helpless to do anything but run away…'

That's when a voice interrupted her saying, "Mayu?"

Mayu whipped around, only to find Flay standing there behind her. She said, "Oh Flay, it's just you. You practically scared me there for a moment."

Flay smiled and walked up to her side, putting her arm on the railing as she asked, "So, what's up?"

Mayu looked at her and asked, "What make's you think that?" Flay looked back at her and replied, "You just have that look on your face that says that something's on your mind."

"…Yeah, you're right." Mayu replied, "I was just thinking about a couple of things, like how ignorant I used to be just a couple of years ago and such."

"I can understand that…" Flay said, looking up at the sky. Mayu looked a bit surprised at that. She did hear a bit about Flay's past a while back, but not in much detail. She asked, "Really?"

"Yeah… Before Heliopolis was attacked, I was just another girl walking through the streets, not really caring about the war and such. Then ZAFT attacked, and I guess it threw everything upside down. My father died soon after, I became bitter, and things just went downhill from there, now that I think about it."

Mayu listened to Flay's story, and found a few elements that were similar to hers as Flay went on, "Then when the shuttle I was on was rescued by Celestial at the Second Battle of Yachin Due. I wanted a chance to make up for what I did and Celestial gave me the chance to make that happen. And ever since I been with you guys and the Serene, my understanding of the world has gotten better." Flay looked at Mayu and said, "You know, I used to hate coordinators, you know."

"What? No way." Mayu said. Flay nodded and said, "That changed after a while but I can still remember how I acted back then, and let's just say, if you saw me back then compared to now, you'd probably wouldn't recognize me."

"That different huh?" Mayu said, "You know, for some reason I feel a bit better. Although, I'm starting to feel a bit cold." As if to prove her point, a cold wind blew over the Serene. Flay shivered a bit too and said, "Let's go back inside and get something warm in the cafeteria."

"Sure Flay." Mayu said, and the two of them went back inside together. Even though Mayu felt better, a part of her was still uncertain of herself. She shook it off as she followed Flay to the cafeteria.

* * *

Note: Finally done and finally back. Now that my RKS fic is done I can focus on this story and my other one. As I said in the summary, the first thirteen chapters have been edited, and there's some more detail in a few, like Ash and Morina's facial descriptions and such. Also misusing you're when it's supposed to be your, now that just made me shake my head. Things might be slow due to writer's block, since I haven't really fleshed out the details between this point in the story up to the attack on Berlin, so if any of you guys want to pitch in an idea, you can PM me or leave it in a review.


	15. A Vow to Protect

Chapter 15 – A Vow to Protect

_November 2, C.E. 73_

The month shifted into November, but the work Celestial was doing didn't lighten up in the slightest. Despite a new war going on the organization dedicated itself to helping the people affected by the fragments. The Earth Alliance and ZAFT managed to stay out of Celestial's way somehow, but sooner or later, the organization's going to start feeling the effects of the war somehow.

The situation between Celestial and the Orb government started to cool down, mostly because the two sides were ignoring each other. Mayumi was thankful for that, because work at HQ was starting to pile up, with all the reports going in and out of the place. She figured, if it wasn't for Nanami and Via's help with it all, she would have fainted after a few days.

The Serene had moved inwards until they came across a coordinator refugee camp that was situated somewhere between China and India, much to their surprise. They flew down and helped the refugees, much to their relief. Little did they know that something was about to happen.

* * *

_Coordinator refugee camp – main area_

Mayu and the other pilots were in the main area of the camp, serving food to the refugees. Everyone there was quite thankful for Celestial's assistance and even some of the children had warmed up to much of the Serene's crew. That's when a message from Natarle came in, saying that Mayu, Elena, Synar, Silenna, and Kazuki were put on standby. Knowing Natarle's intuition was close to Morina's, they didn't complain and went back to the Serene.

Antino and the others watched as Mayu and the other four pilots drove back to the Serene and he said, "Why did the captain call them back?"

"Didn't you listen to what the captain said?" Luri asked him. When he had a blank look on his face, she sighted and told him, "All of us are taking shifts being on standby, with those five going first for the first couple of hours, while the rest of us take the second shift afterwards. The captain's being cautious now, something about being prepared."

Antino just nodded and went back to work, wondering why they would need to be on standby anyway.

Unknown to them however, the entire camp was being watched by a couple of members from Phantom Pain, on the orders to attack the refugee camp on suspicions of the camp harboring terrorists. However, with Celestial now involved they had to move cautiously, since them being there complicated things a lot, and they heard about how skilled the Serene's mobile suit pilots were. A soldier who was on the lookout reported back to the leader of the group saying, "Everything's clear, and the Serene hasn't made any moves yet."

The leader, Sven Cal Bayan, pilot of Phantom Pain's Strike Noir, said, "I just received our orders from HQ. We are to proceed with the mission, and disable any Celestial mobile suits that try to engage us."

Some of the soldiers there were surprised by that as one of his co-pilots, Shams Couza, pilot of the Verde Buster, came up to him and asked, "Really now… I guess I'm not surprised at that, since the Earth Forces can't really antagonize Celestial, even Djbril know that."

"Humph, we should really just get it over with and kill them all. It would serve them right, helping those blasted coordinators." A woman's voice said, which belonged to Sven's other co-pilot, Mudie Holcroft, the pilot of the Blu Duel.

Sven just shook his head and said, "As much as that sounds tempting, our first priority is our mission we were given. That is all."

"Pfft, whatever." Mudie said as she walked off. Sven addressed the other soldiers and said, "Let's get ready to attack. And if any Celestial mobile suit tries to stop any of you, disable them only."

"Yes sir!" The other soldiers, including Shams, replied. As the soldiers made their way to their mobile suits, Shams went up to Sven and asked, "Are you sure about that Sven?"

"It's in our orders." Sven simply said as he made his way to his Strike Noir. Shams just shrugged and walked over to his Verde Buster.

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

On the bridge, only Marianne and Natarle were on it, keeping an eye on things. All of a sudden, one of the consoles blinked from the communications section. Marianne went over and took a look at things. There was a message and when Marianne read it, her eyes widened a bit and said, "Uh, captain? I think you should take a look at this."

"What is it?" Natarle asked, walking over to where Marianne was. She looked at the console and saw it was a message from Terminal. Accessing the message, both of them read it for a moment before Natarle said, "Get everyone to slowly gather every refugee into the Serene under the pretense of a medical checkup. Also, tell all the pilots on standby to prepare for launch at a moment's notice."

"Yes ma'am!" Marianne said, running over to the communications terminal. On the screen the message said, 'Earth Forces are in the area, and suspected targets are the coordinator refugees. Intel suggests that the Earth Forces are plotting to strike due to suspicions of terrorists within the refugee camp.'

* * *

_Serene – hangar_

Mayu and the others were inside their mobile suits talking to each other when Marianne came on the line saying, "Everyone please listen!" From hearing the urgency in her voice, everyone became dead quiet as Marianne explained, "We received word from Terminal that there are Earth Alliance forces stationed outside the camp and we think their intended target is the refugees."

"What? Why on earth would they do something like that?!" Silenna asked, sounding shocked. Marianne replied, "We believe that they may be Blue Cosmos related forces, but since they're still Earth Alliance forces, the no-kill policy is still in effect. As for the reason why, Terminal says that they're here to eliminate the terrorists hiding within the refugee camp. We'll look into this ourselves when this is over."

"Tch, this is one of those times where I hate that policy." Kazuki said with distaste as he gripped the controls of his mobile suit.

Everyone sighed inwardly at that, since they all knew about Kazuki's distaste of Blue Cosmos. It's not that Kazuki outright hated them, he just didn't like their way of thinking, although at times it did cloud his judgment. This opinion was shared by Luri, and they acted the same when the topic was brought up.

"Nevertheless, everyone begin preparations for combat. Mayu, Elena, I'm going to load the two of you onto the catapult now so prepare to take off at a moment's notice." Marianne told them.

"Roger that Marianne." Mayu said. Elena nodded too and both the Strike Noir and Rosso Aegis were being loaded onto the catapult. That's when Mayu asked, "Are the refugees being loaded onto the Serene Marianne?"

Onscreen, Marianne nodded as she replied, "Yes, they're being brought onto the Serene on the pretense of a medical checkup. All the other pilots are there helping with the loading, so-!"

Suddenly, there was a small shake off from a distance and Mayu asked, "What the-?! What was that Marianne?!"

"Tch, it looks like the Earth Forces are starting their attack now! Luckily there was no one in the area that was hit." Marianne replied, as she went from monitor to monitor, "Mayu, Elena, get out there and intercept them. I've cleared you for launch."

"Roger that! Mayu Asuka, Strike Noir launching!" Mayu replied. The Serene's hangers were open as the Strike Noir and Rosso Aegis were catapulted out of the Serene. The two mobile suits took to the air as the others were being loaded.

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

Marianne was multi-tasking with the various monitors when her fellow operators, along with Natarle, entered the bridge. She felt relieved as everyone took their stations, while Natarle said, "Status report!"

"The Earth Forces have made a preemptive strike against the camp with missiles Captain!" Marianne reported, "Thankfully the blasts hit areas of the camp that were already evacuated."

"How about the refugees? Are they all onboard?" Natarle asked. Yuuki was the one to answer that as she replied, "Checking status now ma'am!"

Liana's face appeared on Yuuki's monitor and she asked, "How many refugees are onboard now Dr. Muris?" Liana replied, "About eighty percent of them. It should take no more than less then five minutes."

"Okay, and when all of the refugees are onboard, tell the other pilots to head for their mobile suits." Natarle ordered. Liana nodded at that as her face vanished from the monitor, while Natarle ordered, "Bring all Igelstellungs online and intercept all enemy missiles!"

Lusia nodded and typed in commands while saying, "Roger that ma'am!" The Igelstellungs activated just as another barrage of missiles came. However, Mayu and Elena intercepted them and shot them all down just as the Verde Buster and Blu Duel shot out of the catapults.

* * *

_Refugee camp – battlefield_

Mayu and Elena were looking around for anymore missiles when the Blu Duel and Verde Buster joined them. Synar asked, "Are there anymore missiles coming in?"

"No, I don't see any more." Mayu replied. That's when Marianne's face appeared on one of their monitors and said, "We have twenty mobile suit contacts coming in at twelve o'clock. Seventeen of them are Windams, but the other three are…oh no."

"What is it Marianne?" Mayu said as the Nero Blitz joined the others. Kazuki asked, "So, did I miss anything?"

"The party's just getting started Kazuki." Silenna told him. Marianne said, "The other three signatures are the Strike Noir, Blu Duel, and Verde Buster!"

That shocked them pretty much as Mayu asked, "Are you sure about that Marianne?" At the same time a beam rifle shot was fired towards them and Silenna intercepted it with her shield.

"I'm positive about that Mayu." Marianne replied, "Their signatures match ours so be careful out there. The others will join you as soon as they're done with the refugees!" With that Marianne cut the link and Mayu said, "Okay everyone, you know the drill. Protect the Serene while forcing the enemy forces to retreat."

"Roger that Mayu!" Everyone shouted. The Windams were the first to attack as a squad of them started firing upon the five mobile suits. The five scattered and the Serene put up a barrage to keep them at bay. Then each one went after a Windam and started going after their weapons, while dodging fire from the Verde Buster hanging in the back.

At the back, Sven, Mudie, and Shams were watching the battle, with Shams taking potshots at the Celestial mobile suits. Shams just sighed and said, "I haven't hit any one of them yet, as expected of the mighty Serene's mobile suits. Then again, they have those high performance machines like we do."

Mudie seemed to be itching to go as she said, "Tch, I want to show those Celestial pilots who can really pilot a mobile suit. Especially that Blu Duel pilot, I show them that I'm much better."

Sven was just quiet, watching the battle go on as he saw Mayu's Strike Noir shoot through a Windam's rifle arm, and kicking it back. Suddenly he got an incoming warning from the front and he shouted to everyone, "Move!"

All the mobile suites in the vicinity moved back as a high powered beam shot hit the space that they were just on. Looking towards the source, they saw Synar's Verde Buster had combined its rifles and fired the shot. Synar said to the others, "That should keep that other Buster busy for a bit."

That's when Marianne came back on saying, "Everyone, all the refugees are onboard right now, so the others will be joining you in a few minutes. Hold out until then."

"Hold out she says, but these guys are tougher than usual!" Silenna says as a Windam dodged her shot and returned fire. Elena and Kazuki were pinned together against six Windams and were trying hard not to get shot down. Synar was trying to help them, but he had his own troubles trying to fend off two Windams that were persistent, and he had a hard time locking on to them.

Mayu was in the stickiest situation, with five Windams on her, and all she could do was dodge all the attacks while deflecting beam shots with her beam blades. It was obvious that they weren't expecting pilots of this caliber and were trying to adapt to the situation while holding out.

That was when Mayu was caught off guard and a Windam snuck up on her. It was about to attack with its beam saber when a beam shot struck through its arm and it forced it to fall back. Looking around, everyone saw more shots fired from the Serene's direction, forcing the Earth Forces to fall back a bit.

"…Hey Mayu, looks like you had your hands full!" Luri said as she showed up in the Barrett. Mayu laughed and said, "It's good to see you guys here Luri."

Everyone regrouped and Mayu saw the Barrett, Claymore, Ruby Frame, Sapphire Frame, and Silver Frame approach their location. Then she noticed that the Strike was missing and asked, "Where's Flay?"

"She had to stay behind." Asagi replied as she fired on an incoming Windam, "One of the children got hurt and got pretty attached to her. So she stayed with Dr. Muris and the other refugees."

Everyone scattered as a high powered beam shot tore through their space originating from Shams' Verde Buster. The other Windams closed in on them as Mayu said, "It can't be helped I guess… Elena, Silenna, we're going after those three. Synar, cover our backs. Everyone else hold back the Windams."

"Roger that!" Everyone shouted. Antino smirked as the Claymore took out its anti-ship swords, an addition that Natalie made to the mobile suit. Then he shouted, "Let's get these scrubs!"

As the Windams were being held off, Sven, Mudie, and Shams got back into position, just in time to see Mayu and the others heading towards them. Sven said, "Looks like Celestial is trying to take us out of the fight. Why don't we show them the true might of Phantom Pain!"

"Hell yeah! I've been waiting for this!" Mudie shouted as she blasted forward without warning. Shams just sighed and started firing upon the mobile suits, while Sven and two other Windams blasted after Mudie.

"Everyone scatter!" Mayu shouted as the four mobile suits shot off in different directions to avoid the beam shots. Mudie smirked at that and went right after Silenna shouting, "Show me what you got Celestial pilot!"

"What the?!" Silenna shouted as she had to dodge fire from Mudie's Blu Duel. Her eyes narrowed and she said, "So you want to see who's better huh?! I'll show you!"

The two Windams went right after Elena, while Sven went straight for Mayu, with his Strike Noir firing its Shorty beam rifles right at her. Mayu whispered, "Another Strike Noir huh? I'll stop you right here and now!"

Shams wondered where to shoot when he had to dodge a shot aimed at his Verde Buster's head. Looking around, he saw Synar's Verde Buster with its rifle out and pointed right at him. Shams said, "Hmm, so you want to see who the better shot is? Fine then Celestial pilot, I'll show you whose better!"

Synar saw his opponent get into position and said, "At least I got the pilot's attention now. Just gotta figure out how to do this…"

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

On the bridge, everyone was busy as Natarle went over the situation and thought, 'From the looks of things, we might have to relocate the refugees. Also we need to look into the terrorist suspicion that attracted the Earth Forces too, but I sincerely doubt that it's true.'

Suddenly, there was a communication from the hangar and Yuuki patched it through. It showed Flay in her mobile suit and she said, "I'm ready to go Captain, just give the order."

"Glad to see you can join us Flay." Natarle said. Marianne nodded and said, "Preparing Strike for launch. Equipping the IWSP on to the Strike."

Flay nodded as her face disappeared from the screen. Natarle looked at the others and asked, "Status report!"

"Mayu, Elena, Silenna, and Synar have engaged the Earth Forces Strike Noir, Blu Duel, and Verde Buster. Everyone else is pushing the enemy Windams back, but Kazuki had to come in due to damages to his weapons."

"Any signs of a carrier nearby?" Natarle asked. Kain shook his head and replied, "No Ma'am, just mobile suit signatures. If they did come by carrier then it would probably be somewhere out of our sensor range."

That threw Natarle in a loop as she thought, 'Then where did those missiles come from? I don't see any Windams with heavy artillery, and the Verde Buster doesn't have that many…'

Natarle just watched as the Strike IWSP joined the fight to push back the Windams, and saw that the enemy's numbers were dwindling. She kept her focus as she continued to oversee the battle that was going on.

* * *

_Refugee camp – battlefield_

Mayu and the others were having a hard time with their opponents. Mudie and Silenna had resorted to a swordfight after repeated shots at each other. Shams and Synar were doing the same thing and managed to get only a few hits off of each other. Elena found that the two Windam pilots were more skilled than she anticipated, with the Rosso Aegis sporting a few gashes from their beam sabers. Sven and Mayu were the worst off, with both their Strike Noirs being damaged in various places.

'I admit, I underestimated the skill of this pilot, but this is dragging on for too long!' Mayu thought to herself. She already lost a Shorty beam rifle and rocket anchors in the fight, and was now resorting to both beam blades to fight. She made another slash at Sven, but he blocked it with his own beam blade, and tried to return the favor, making her dodge it.

Sven, on the other hand, found Mayu to be more than he expected. He expected the Celestial pilot to be skilled, but Mayu was above his expectations, and started to push himself even further. The two Strike Noirs slashed at each other, and only managed to get a few hits off of each other.

With the two Blu Duels, Mudie and Silenna were attacking each other over and over again, resulting in stalemate outcomes with their beam sabers. They were also shouting at each other, despite not having their radios connected. Mudie went for another slash shouting, "Go down you damn pilot!"

Silenna blocked it with her shield shouting back, "That was weak! Let me show you how it's really done!"

Shams and Synar were busy having a shoot out, though Synar was the one shooting more than Shams was. Both pilots exhausted their missile pods and were now using their beam rifles to shoot at each other. Synar was busy trying to get an accurate shot as he muttered, "That guy's hard to shoot down, I must admit."

Meanwhile Shams noticed something throughout their shootout and thought, 'That's weird, from how much that Verde Buster's shooting, it should be nearly out of energy now. I wonder what's going on…' He had to dodge another shot and retaliated with one of his own.

Elena meanwhile was trying hard to disable the two Windams that she was fighting. She managed to get rid of their beam rifles, but in the process, managed to lose hers. Now they were trying to attack her with their beam sabers and what missiles they had left, and Elena was pushing herself to her limits trying to evade and counter attack.

After a few slashes that Elena narrowly avoided, she got a lucky slash in as the Rosso Aegis spun around and managed to slash one of the Windams' rifle arm off, which happened to be holding it's beam saber, making it effectively useless. It reluctantly retreated as Elena turned her attention back to the other Windam, which tried to attack her from behind.

Back to where everyone else was fighting, the others managed to down half of the Windams attacking. The Serene was able to keep incoming Windams from directly attacking, but it had received minor damages to various places.

Half of the surviving Windams had some damages done to them as the others were barely scratched. On Celestial's side, Antino, Juri, and Flay had quite the few damages done to their mobile suits, but they were far from out. The others had minor scratches, but some had lost a few weapons to the fighting.

The battle went on for quite a while until the mobile suits on the Earth Forces side started to run low on energy, as most of it was spent on the battle. Sven, Mudie, and Shams' mobile suits started to have the same problem and Sven ordered, "All units retreat now! We'll fall back for the time being!"

"What? You got to be kidding me Sven!" Shams shouted, "If we retreat now then our targets might be moved somewhere else where we can't touch them."

"He's right Sven!" Mudie agreed, "If we retreat now, our targets will escape with Celestial's help!"

Sven didn't like it either but said, "If we run out of energy here, then we won't have a second chance to get them. Anyway, this mission will be canceled out, since we didn't expect Celestial to show up here. All units retreat!"

All the mobile suits started to pull back and everyone from the Serene didn't pursue them. They lowered their weapons as they watched the remaining Windams fly away in retreat, a bit puzzled by the sudden action, until Mayura pointed out, "Maybe their mobile suits were running low on energy? They are battery powered after all."

That made sense to them as Mayu and the others fell back, with Sven and his team retreating with the Windams. The four of them were panting with exhaustion as Mayu thought, 'Those were the toughest opponents we've fought so far. I guess that it was expected from Earth Forces pilots, but why do I feel that their piloting skills were on the level of a coordinator though…?'

Natarle's face appeared on everyone's HUD and she said, "It looks like the enemy's in full retreat. All mobile suits are to report back to the ship, as we are heading out immediately."

"Eh, why? The enemy has already retreated, didn't they?" Antino asked. Natarle shook her head and replied, "We need to move the refugees immediately to a safer place, and I wouldn't be surprised if that unit had a backup plan."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and they headed back to the Serene. However, as Mayu flew over the ruined refugee camp, a feeling of sadness washed over her, seeing the damage done to the camp by the fighting. The refugees were safe, but their haven was destroyed, which made her think back to what happened to Orb when it was invaded. She cringed and swallowed as Mayu piloted the Strike Noir back to the ship, though a tear fell from her eye.

* * *

_Serene – bridge_

All the pilots were gathered on the bridge, as the Serene was making it's way to one of it's bases that was near the China-India border, which also happened to be a seaside base. Everyone was gathered for a debriefing and Natarle sighed at what had just happened as she said, "Well, we've checked the refugees through and through, and there aren't any terrorists hidden between them for all we know, so either the Earth Alliance were misinformed, or the intel was made up as an excuse to attack the refugee camp."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the excuse part was true." Asagi said. The other pilots seemed to nod at that as Natarle said, "As much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't be surprised if that was true either."

That's when Terence said, "Ma'am, I've just got the message from Azuma Base. They're able to take in all the refugees, and that they'll be able to resupply us."

"Tell them that we appreciate it, and that we'll be arriving within a few hours." Natarle replied. Terence nodded and went back to his monitor to transmit the message as Natarle turned her attention back to the pilots.

As the debriefing was going on, Mayu was unusually quiet the entire time. She was deep in thought as her mind went over the battle and the ruins of the refugee camp. That's when Elena noticed and tugged on the sleeve of her uniform, with a concerned look on her face. Mayu looked at her and she saw that Elena wrote, "Are you alright Mayu?"

"I'm okay Elena, just thinking about some things." Mayu assured her. Elena wasn't totally convinced, but she let it go as Natarle dismissed the pilots, and everyone filed out one at a time, though Asagi, Juri, Mayura, and Flay stayed behind with Elena.

Mayu was lost in thought again, and now the three Astray pilots and Flay noticed Mayu's odd behavior. They were concerned about her and Flay went up to Mayu and asked, "Why don't we go visit the refugees Mayu? I'm sure that those kids will appreciate you visiting them."

"…Sure." Mayu replied softly. Her subdued form made them worry when Terence said, "There's an encoded message addressed to you from the Archangel, Captain."

Everyone on the bridge perked up at that as Natarle said, "What does it say Terence?"

"It says that Natalie will be transferring to the Serene to continue development of the NIRUS project. She'll meet us in a couple of days or so, from what the message says Captain." Terence replied.

Mayu and the others left the bridge after hearing that, with Mayu still deep in thought. The girls hoped that visiting the refugees would keep Mayu occupied but they had their doubts as they walked down the hall.

* * *

_November 7, C.E. 73 – Azuma base_

Days have passed since the attack on the refugee camp. The coordinator refugees were extremely grateful for Celestial's assistance and were being sent to the PLANTs. From what the crew of the Serene heard, Chairman Durandal was glad to see the refugees safe and was more than willing to let them into the PLANTs. Also, Mayumi was worried about the situation when she got the report, but she wanted to keep things quiet since they didn't know what exactly was going on.

Sure enough, the Earth Alliance didn't say a single word about it, and there weren't any 'accidents' involving Celestial, so they figured that they wanted to keep things quiet too. That unnerved them a bit but they had other things to think about so it gradually slipped their mind.

Now Flay was with Natarle and a few of the base's personnel, waiting for an aircraft to arrive. When it did, Natalie came out of it accompanied by a few Celestial agents and they walked towards the waiting area.

When they approached, Natalie said, "Flay, Captain Natarle, it's been a while."

"It sure has been Professor Kino." Natarle replied. A nod came from Natalie before she turned her attention to Flay and said, "Let's get going Flay."

"Uh, yes Professor!" Flay said, as Natarle led the agents away to the main building with the personnel. Natalie led Flay in the direction where the Serene was harbored as she said, "Oh, I almost forgot. There's going to be an assistant coming in from Orb later today to help with the project. I'll introduce her to you when she arrives."

Flay nodded and she followed Natalie to the Serene, with Natalie asking, "So, how has piloting the Strike been?"

* * *

_Serene – deck_

Mayu was by herself, feeling a bit depressed as she replayed what had happened ever since the Serene left Orb. Seeing all those affected by the fragments made her really think, and the recent attack by the Earth Forces made her quite angry for a bit, but she couldn't hold it for long.

She thought, 'I wish Ash or Morina were here right now. I even wish that Shinn was here right now. I feel so lost for some reason…' However when she thought of Shinn trying to give her advice, she shook her head and thought, 'No, even though Shinn is my brother, I doubt that he would be able to give me advice, not to mention that he's been acting differently ever since I saw him again…'

Slumping over the railing, Mayu rubbed her shoulder that her prosthetic was connected to and thought, 'Thinking about it won't help me here, so all I can do now is help the people affected to the best of my ability!'

That train of thought seemed to cheer her up when she looked over and saw Flay and Natalie walking towards the Serene. Mayu took notice and thought, 'It's Professor Kino! Maybe she knows something about Ash and Morina.'

With that, Mayu made her way to the Serene's hangar, since she suspected that that's where they're heading to. It did make sense, since the Strike was still there being repaired along with the other mobile suits.

* * *

_Serene – hangar_

Mayu met up with Flay and Natalie, though she was disappointed that Natalie didn't have much to tell her, only that Ash and Morina hoped that everyone was doing okay. She got roped into helping Flay and Natalie with their work, though she didn't mind, and thought it might take her mind off of things.

Later, a couple of the base's personnel walked in, escorting a young woman that had long blond hair and green eyes. She was wearing a white dress shirt with a black skirt, with a lab coat over her. She had a small smile on her face and both Mayu and Flay had an odd feeling about her.

Both girls couldn't help but think, 'Is she a loli?' due to her short stature, which was about 5'2. Natalie didn't notice their expressions as she gave a nod and the personnel left, leaving the woman with them. Then Natalie said, "Girls, I would like you two to meet Hayana Frienia. She's going to be helping with the finishing touches to the NIRUS project. Hayana, these two are Flay Allster and Mayu Asuka. Flay's Strike is the one testing NIRUS while Mayu is her team leader on the battlefield."

Hayana bowed and said, "It's nice to meet the two of you." Flay and Mayu returned the bow as both of them thought, 'Why do I have an odd feeling about her?'

Mayu and Flay looked at each other before following Natalie and Hayana over to the Strike. They hoped that the feeling they had was just a feeling, but as the saying goes, anything is possible.

* * *

Note: Ugh, sorry for the very late update, and to say that updates for this story will be quite random from now on, though I am hoping to finish this before the end of the year.

Oh, just to let you readers know, I have never watched the GSD Stargazer OVAs, so I don't know if Sven, Mudie, and Shams are OOC or not. Not even sure that I got their personalities down either so you don't need to point out any mistakes there.

There has been one thing I've been meaning to ask you readers about for a while now, and it's the flaws that Gundam Seed Destiny had. I know one of them is Shinn, and I've been working on that. I know there are others but if any of the readers can point them out in a review or PM, I'd appreciate it. Just don't go over the top with them alright?


End file.
